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Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours

Summary

Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … , Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and …
  • … from a family that the Darwins had befriended. The year 1877 was more than usually full of honours. …
  • … evidence and renewing contact with correspondents such as Daniel Oliver, Friedrich Hildebrand, Fritz …
  • … of respect and affection’. He hinted as much in his letter of 4 June : ‘you will see I have done …
  • … of a very heavy shower’, William wrote on 24 August 1877 . ‘The leaves were not at all depressed; …
  • … have shared Hooker’s suspicion of ambitious gardeners ( letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 August …
  • … … tap one of the young leaves with a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). …
  • … , or to the vibratory flagella of some Infusoria’ ( letter from F. J. Cohn, 5 August 1877 ). …
  • … wrote to the editor, George Croom Robertson, on 27 April 1877 , ‘I hope that you will be so good …
  • … had written to the editor Ernst Ludwig Krause on 30 June 1877 , ‘I have been much interested by …
  • … the German debate (letters to W. E. Gladstone, 2 October 1877 and 25 October [1877] ). …
  • … his sense of form and of motion was exact and lively’ ( letter from W. E. Gladstone, 23 October …
  • … Darwin and Ernst Haeckel). Writing to Darwin on 11 March 1877 , Krause declared the journal ‘an …
  • … the Westphalian Provincial Society for Science and Art. In a letter to Darwin written before 16 …
  • … the only one full-page in size. Haeckel sent a personal letter of congratulation on 9 February , …
  • … (see Appendix V). The album arrived with a long letter from the director and secretary of the …
  • … reported, ‘but found him as soft & smooth as butter’ ( letter to C. E. Norton, 16 March 1877 ) …
  • … write to Owen & offer himself you & me to dejeuner!!!’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 June …
  • … where I hope it may remain for centuries to come’ ( letter from C. C. Graham, 30 January 1877 ). …
  • … you in the interests of truth, of man and of societies’ ( letter from Marcellin de Bonnal, [1877] …
  • … to the old story to be horsewhipped by a duke!’ ( letter to J. M. Rodwell, 3 June 1877 ). Back …

Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health

Summary

On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’.  Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
  • … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
  • … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
  • … observations indoors ( Correspondence  vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
  • … himself as ‘a broken-down brother-naturalist’, sent to Daniel Oliver, keeper of the herbarium at the …
  • … gradation by which  leaves  produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
  • … fearfully for it is a leaf climber & therefore sacred’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 June [1864] …
  • … than modified branches or leaves as most botanists thought, Oliver initially expressed reservations. …
  • … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
  • … long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October [1864] that he was …
  • …  paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] that nothing …
  • … of the two species with the common oxlip. In a letter of 22 October [1864] , Darwin triumphantly …
  • … of dimorphic and trimorphic plants’), and later in his 1877 book, The different forms of flowers on …
  • … the ‘splendid case of Dimorphism’ in  Menyanthes  ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. …
  • … this interest. At the start of the year, he received a letter, insect specimens, and an article on …
  • … in the second edition of  Orchids , published in 1877. These publications were partly inspired by …
  • … at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the fertilisation of the …
  • … two years, with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] …
  • … is difficult enough to play your part  over  them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
  • … troublesome … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). …
  • … the conclusion that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ) …
  • … his indomitable perseverance, and his knowledge’ ( letter to John Scott, 10 June 1864 ). Hooker …
  • … basis he recommended a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August …

Floral Dimorphism

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…

Matches: 11 hits

  • … | Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a …
  • … findings on floral dimorphism were eventually published in 1877, but these experiments and …
  • … SOURCES Book Darwin, C. R. 1877. The different forms of flowers on plants of the …
  • … Dimorphic Plants: Primulaceae Letters Letter Packet: Floral Dimorphism …
  • … and the appearance of his new Orchid book. Letter 3515 - Daniel Oliver to Darwin, 23 …
  • … on a set of experiments carried out at Darwin’s request. (Oliver would later become a professor of …
  • … Cassia . He also mentions the ongoing work of his assistant Daniel Oliver. He reflects on the …
  • … and Darwin held Hooker’s work in high esteem. Letter 4053 - Darwin to Asa Gray, 20 March …
  • … family, his personal health, and his botanic work all in one letter? Why or why not? …
  • … experiment, the class read chapter 1 of Charles Darwin’s 1877 T he Different Forms of …
  • … Flowers on Plants of the Same Species (London: John Murray, 1877), 16. [2] Ibid., 30. …

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
  • … persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The …
  • … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
  • … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
  • … than  Origin had (see  Correspondence  vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
  • … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
  • … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
  • … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
  • … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
  • … thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In …
  • … change of species by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the …
  • … disaffected towards Lyell and his book. In a February letter to the  Athenæum , a weekly review of …
  • … find great difficulty in answering Owen  unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
  • … of so much of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
  • … is wretched to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
  • … overt act, and I shall watch for a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] …
  • … God demented Owen, as a punishment for his crimes… ?’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January [1863] …
  • … leaves, asking the professional botanists Gray, Hooker, and Daniel Oliver for references on …
  • … the family, to explaining the phenomenon ( see letter from Daniel Oliver, 17 February 1863 , …

Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics

Summary

On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
  • … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
  • … he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
  • … his theory would have been ‘ utterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
  • … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
  • … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
  • … naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
  • … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
  • … tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the …
  • … favour of change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). …
  • … his study of the geographical distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860 …
  • … ‘man is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he …
  • … book had become ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • … Darwin ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
  • … that ‘this row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further …
  • … if the whole were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘how differently different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] …
  • … studying the first published piece: 'I said in a former letter that you were a Lawyer; but I …
  • … that these visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). …
  • … several months later, ‘just as at a game of chess.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 [July 1860] ). …
  • … different forms of flowers on plants of the same species  (1877). Plants that behave like …
  • … substance from non=nitrogenised substances.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 31 [August 1860] ). Relying …
  • … only of Hooker but also of a newly appointed Kew botanist, Daniel Oliver; his old friend and …
  • … scarcely be believed without further supporting evidence ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …
  • … selection. As the letters between Darwin, Hooker, and Oliver indicate, the novelty of this approach …
  • … (letters to Charles Lyell, 24 November [1860] , and to Daniel Oliver, 20 October [1860] ). …

Forms of flowers

Summary

Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … of flowers on plants of the same species , published in 1877, investigated the structural …
  • … meaning of the dimorphism ’. Two months later, he told Daniel Oliver, ‘ I am surprised to find …
  • … he had been working on since late July 1862. He told Oliver that, ‘ as each form has two sets of …
  • … (p. 82) and clarified the meaning to Fritz Müller in a letter in September 1866, ‘ What I meant in …
  • … his papers on forms of flowers into a book. By January 1877, Darwin informed Hooker, ‘ …I am only …
  • … than in the short-styled form ’, Darwin annotated this letter, wondering, ‘Would it be worth while …
  • … illegitimate offspring of heterostyled plants. By late March 1877 Darwin told Carus that he was …
  • … . He contacted his publisher John Murray in early April 1877, telling him, ‘ I wish the …

Darwin’s Photographic Portraits

Summary

Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…

Matches: 7 hits

  • a photograph as a token of esteem by a colleague, such as Daniel Oliver at Kew, the image became
  • to the copy he had sent five years previously in his 1860 letter to Hooker , Darwin exclaimed
  • gaze. These photographs were rarely included in a Darwin letter, save for perhaps a very few close
  • taken for public consumption. Responding to  a letter from a German translatorAdolph
  • which you do me the honour to wish to possess.” As the letter and photograph had to travel from Down
  • of  woodburytype  prints of famous Victorians made in 1877, which they printed and sold under the
  • sale in London photo shops. ImageCharles Darwin, 1877, Lock & Whitfield, NPG x5939, © …

From morphology to movement: observation and experiment

Summary

Darwin was a thoughtful observer of the natural world from an early age. Whether on a grand scale, as exemplified by his observations on geology, or a microscopic one, as shown by his early work on the eggs and larvae of tiny bryozoans, Darwin was…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … (pollen masses naturally fall on the stigma). In a letter to  Gardeners’ Chronicle  in June 1860 …
  • … observers in France and Germany to the second edition of 1877 (see Works in Letters: Orchids ).  …
  • … approach, and after hearing about Australian orchids from Daniel Oliver, he wrote ‘ I cannot quite …
  • … the same time he began work on orchid morphology. In a letter written in October 1860 to his …
  • … performed by Sachs, their results were often at odds. In a letter to William Turner Thiselton-Dyer …
  • … it would injure the root and prevent geotropism. In a letter to his father, Francis described his …

Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest

Summary

The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of  Origin. Darwin got the fourth…

Matches: 27 hits

  • … Pound foolish, Penurious, Pragmatical Prigs’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [29 December 1866] ). But …
  • … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
  • … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
  • … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
  • … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
  • … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
  • … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
  • … good deal I think, & have come to more definite views’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December …
  • … ‘I quite follow you in thinking Agassiz glacier-mad’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8[–9] September …
  • … ten times more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] …
  • … past few years. Emma described the Royal Society event in a letter to George: ‘Your father … entered …
  • … you—& told me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). …
  • … 3 calls! & then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866 …
  • … delighted to come on those terms so you are in for it’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [  c . 10 May …
  • … very much to see him, though I dread all exertion’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 May 1866] ). …
  • … to Madeira. His visit to Down House is described in a letter from Henrietta to George: ‘when first …
  • … most magnificent eulogium which it has ever received’ ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 18 August [1866] …
  • … like myself weak in his Greek, is something dreadful’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1866] …
  • … progressive, teleological development ( see for example, letter to C. W. Nägeli, 12 June [1866] ). …
  • … His drawings of  C. scoparius , sent to Darwin with his letter of 8 May [1866] , allowed …
  • … initial state of dimorphism’ (Correspondence vol. 9, letter from Asa Gray, 11 October 1861 ). …
  • … that the species was ‘merely ordinaryly diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, [7 May – 11 June 1866 …
  • … the Rhamnus is a case of dimorphic becoming diœcious’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 20 June [1866] ) …
  • … blows up— I am well accustomed to such explosions’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 June [1866] ). He …
  • … be honest, & admit how little is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August …
  • … to see how differently we look at every thing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 August [1866] ). Yet …
  • … when the young daughter of Hooker’s colleague at Kew, Daniel Oliver, died suddenly. ‘How grieved I …