Bad Request
Your browser sent a request that this server could not understand.
Apache Server at dcp-public.lib.cam.ac.uk Port 443

Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 21 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
- … dispute over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwin’s son George dominated the second …
- … and traveller Alexander von Humboldt’s 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a reflection on his debt …
- … by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August 1874] ). …
- … and collecting beetles ( letter from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such reminiscences led Darwin to …
- … much more than forwards’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). I feel very old & …
- … old & helpless’ ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] ). Darwin mentioned his poor …
- … Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). Darwin …
- … that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874] ). This …
- … allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). Back …
- … and disease in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii; letters from T. N. Staley, 12 February 1874 and …
- … Descent was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though …
- … on subsequent print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). …
- … in a few hours dissolve the hardest cartilage, bone & meat &c. &c.’ ( letter to W. D. …
- … of various substances on his behalf. Thomas Lauder Brunton sent the results of his experiments on …
- … whether at the ‘close of the putrefaction of flesh, skin &c, any substance is produced before …
- … details of an Australian variety of sundew ( letter from T. C. Copland, 23 June 1874 ). …
- … W. Pennypacker, 14 September 1874 ). Thomas Lauder Brunton sent Darwin examples of busts …
- … the face, with a physiological explanation ( letter from T. L. Brunton, [29] October [1874] ). …
- … Sharpe for promotion at the British Museum ( letter to R. B. Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ). He …
- … head that M r Spencer’s terms of equilibration &c always bother me & make everything less …

Animals, ethics, and the progress of science
Summary
Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In Descent, he argued that some animals exhibited moral behaviour and had evolved mental powers analogous to conscience. He gave examples of cooperation, even…
Matches: 23 hits
- … Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical …
- … a live worm on a hook (‘Recollections’, pp. 358, 388). Darwin’s concern for animals aligned with …
- … and an integral part of medical and veterinary training. Darwin was clearly disturbed by the …
- … about it, else I shall not sleep to-night’ ( letter to E. R. Lankester, 22 March [1871] ). In …
- … to the last hour of his life’ ( Descent 1: 40). Darwin’s closest encounter with …
- … on rabbits. The investigation was partly aimed at testing Darwin’s ‘hypothesis of pangenesis’, which …
- … of different breeds together. Galton reported regularly to Darwin on the results (all negative). He …
- … Society, calling into question the theory of pangenesis. Darwin was taken aback, and swiftly replied …
- … no longer look after the rabbits (many died from the cold), Darwin offered to give the poor …
- … more influenced by experiments on animals than on plants’, Darwin conceded. ‘I think a large number …
- … ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 18 July 1875 ). Darwin was concerned that the method be painless, …
- … can be chloroformed (letter to G. J. Romanes, 27 December 1874 ). In the previous sections …
- … were analogous to those performed on dogs and other animals. Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants …
- … physiologists, John Scott Burdon Sanderson, Thomas Lauder Brunton, Michael Foster, and Edward …
- … an acquaintance of the Darwins, and had corresponded with Darwin cordially about his moral theory, …
- … ( letter to F. B. Cobbe, [14 January 1875] ). Darwin’s involvement in the vivisection …
- … of which we can now see the bearings in regard to health &c, I look at as puerile. Darwin …
- … with costly equipment, a supply of animals, etc.. Darwin was concerned that ‘private men’ would be …
- … ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January [1875] ) Darwin worked closely with Burdon …
- … Physiology as doomed to death in this country. ( letter To T. H. Huxley, 14 January 1875 ) …
- … the total abolition of the practice. ‘It seems to me’, Darwin remarked to George Romanes, ‘that …
- … organised defence. To bring more solidarity to the field, Darwin’s son Francis, and a number of his …
- … of experiment amongst people in general’ ( letter from T. L. Brunton, 12 February 1882 ). Darwin …

Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 21 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous …
- … for scientific colleagues or their widows facing hardship. Darwin had suffered from poor health …
- … of his scientific friends quickly organised a campaign for Darwin to have greater public recognition …
- … Botanical observation and experiment had long been Darwin’s greatest scientific pleasure. The year …
- … to Fritz Müller, 4 January 1882 ). These were topics that Darwin had been investigating for years, …
- … working at the effects of Carbonate of Ammonia on roots,’ Darwin wrote, ‘the chief result being that …
- … contents, if immersed for some hours in a weak solution of C. of Ammonia’. Darwin’s interest in root …
- … witlings of the newspaper press’ ( letter from A. T. Rice, 4 February 1882 ). Rice looked to …
- … our homes, would in this case greatly suffer’ ( letter to C. A. Kennard, 9 January 1882 ). Kennard …
- … judged, intellectually his inferior, please ( letter from C. A. Kennard, 28 January 1882 ). …
- … ( letter from John Collier, 22 February 1882 ; T. H. Huxley 1881, pp. 199–245). Huxley used …
- … to William Jenner, 20 March [1882] ; see also letter from T. L Brunton, 12 February 1882 , and …
- … dull aching in the chest’ (Emma Darwin to G. H. Darwin, [ c . 28 March 1882] (DAR 210.3: 45)). …
- … get one of the cleverer sort of young London Doctors such as Brunton or Pye Smith to put himself in …
- … can be placed to look after your machinery (I daren’t say automaton ) critically’ ( letter from …
- … were more automata in the world like you’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 27 March 1882 ). Darwin …
- … grant us this our modest request!’ ( letter from J. L. Ambrose, 3 April 1882 ). Darwin immediately …
- … to some Estancia,’ wrote Hughes, ‘as the scenery &c. will amply repay your trouble’ ( letter …
- … where he had witnessed an earthquake in 1835 ( letter from R. E. Alison, [March–July 1835 ]). …
- … will be months before I am able to work’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [ c . 10 April 1864] ). To …
- … father confessor. ( Letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 .) Darwin’s fame continued …