To Richard Owen [1849?]
Summary
CD proposes to call for tea if he is well enough on Thursday.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Richard Owen |
Date: | [1849?] |
Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1089 |
To Thomas Salt 27 July [1849]
Summary
Returns the enclosed from his brother [Erasmus Alvey Darwin]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Salt |
Date: | 27 July [1849] |
Classmark: | Rachel Salt (private collection); sold by Spink’s (dealers), July 2018 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1103F |
To M. A. T. Whitby 12 August [1849]
Summary
Thanks MATW for the results of her experiments on the inheritance of caterpillar peculiarities and would be grateful for any further observations on differences in structure or habits between silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Mary Anne Theresa Whitby |
Date: | 12 Aug [1849] |
Classmark: | New York Academy of Medicine (MS 15) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1194 |
To Hugh Edwin Strickland 29 January [1849]
Summary
Has altered and added to HES’s list [compiled for Bibliographia zoologiæ et geologiæ, edited by Louis Agassiz and enlarged by HES, (1848–54)].
On zoological nomenclature CD cites a case in which he believes more harm than good would be done by following the rule of priority. Thinks the rule of the first describer’s name being attached in perpetuity to a species has been the greatest curse to natural history. Every genus of cirripedes has a half-dozen names and not one careful description.
Sends a paper he once wrote [missing] on the subject [of zoological nomenclature].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
Date: | 29 Jan [1849] |
Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1215 |
From H. E. Strickland 31 January 1849
Summary
Responds to CD’s two objections to the principles involved in the "Rules of zoological nomenclature": (1) that strict enforcement of the rule of priority would cause much inconvenience, and (2) attaching name of the first describer in perpetuity puts a premium on careless description by "species mongers".
Author: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 31 Jan 1849 |
Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1216 |
To Smith, Elder & Company [16 February 1849]
Summary
Asks for account on South America and sales of Coral reefs and Volcanic islands.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Smith, Elder & Co |
Date: | [16 Feb 1849] |
Classmark: | Edward Ford (private collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1217 |
To W. J. Hooker [c. February 1849]
Summary
Thanks WJH for information on J. D. Hooker’s progress.
J. D. Hooker promised a copy of his Galapagos paper. Can WJH forward one to the Athenaeum?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Jackson Hooker |
Date: | [c. Feb 1849] |
Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Directors’ Correspondence English letters A–J 1849, 27: 155) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1218 |
From J. D. Hooker 3 February 1849
Summary
Physical description of Sikkim mountains.
Travelling through Kinchin snows.
Transported boulders.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 Feb 1849 |
Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (India letters 1847–51: 131–5 JDH/1/10) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1219 |
From J. D. Hooker 3 February 1849
Summary
Continues prior letter of this date. Has received CD’s [1202]. Thanks CD for saving his correspondence.
Sent "a yarn about species" in October mail.
Some "puerile" JDH letters printed in Athenæum.
Requests CD extract anything valuable from his letters to CD and Lyell for Athenæum.
CD’s complemental males in barnacles wonderful.
Warns CD to drop his battle about perpetuity of names in species descriptions.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 3 Feb 1849 |
Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (India letters 1847–51: 136–7 JDH/1/10) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1220 |
To H. E. Strickland [4 February 1849]
Summary
HES’s arguments are of great weight, but CD cannot yet bring himself to reject well-known names for obscure ones. Sends four cases that he thinks will stagger HES. Cites his problems in classifying cirripedes. CD cannot bear to give new names, yet may do wrong to attach old ones. Not one species is correctly defined. The harm done by "species mongers".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
Date: | [4 Feb 1849] |
Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1221 |
To W. D. Fox 6 February [1849]
Summary
His memory of his recently deceased father is a treasure to him.
Thanks WDF for information on the water-cure. Dislikes the thought of it.
Reports results of his experiments with tied-up fruit-trees.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
Date: | 6 Feb [1849] |
Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 71) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1222 |
From Thomas Salt to E. A. Darwin 8 February 1849
Summary
Discusses the division of R. W. Darwin’s estate.
Author: | Thomas Salt |
Addressee: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Date: | 8 Feb 1849 |
Classmark: | Shropshire Archives (SA D3651/B/47/1/11) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1222F |
From H. E. Strickland 8 February 1849
Summary
The priority rule has only diverted vanity to a rush to be first. Has no objection to CD’s suggestion that good books be quoted in preference to first descriptions if there is a chance by this means of developing this silly vanity into ambition to advance knowledge. Still, this must not affect the rule of priority. Responds to CD’s four cases.
Author: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 Feb 1849 |
Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1223 |
To Lovell Augustus Reeve [before 14 March 1849]
Summary
Happy to support LAR’s application to the Royal Society.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Lovell Augustus Reeve |
Date: | [before 14 Mar 1849] |
Classmark: | Melvill 1900: 352 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1223F |
To Johannes Peter Müller 10 February [1849]
Summary
Requests JPM’s assistance by lending or giving him cirripede specimens. The anatomy of cirripedes has been most imperfectly done, and their classification is a perfect chaos.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johannes Peter (Johannes) Müller |
Date: | 10 Feb [1849] |
Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 216–217 ) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1224 |
To H. E. Strickland 10 February [1849]
Summary
HES’s letter will fructify to some extent: CD will try to be more faithful to rigid virtue and priority. Would not adopt his own notion in cirripede book without prior approval by others. Will not append "Darwin" to any of his species. Feels sure many others share his aversion.
Asks HES’s opinion on retention of generic name Conchoderma.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
Date: | 10 Feb [1849] |
Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1225 |
From H. E. Strickland 15 February 1849
Summary
Clarifies the notion and use of type-species and applies it to CD’s problem with Conchoderma.
Author: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 15 Feb 1849 |
Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1226 |
To H. E. Strickland [19 February 1849]
Summary
Thanks HES for solving his problem. Has some difficulty with HES’s type-species. In arranging genera in a natural order it is often impossible to say which species should be considered the type.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Hugh Edwin Strickland |
Date: | [19 Feb 1849] |
Classmark: | Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1227 |
To Richard Owen [24 February 1849]
Summary
Thanks RO for his note on Conchoderma hunteri [see Living Cirripedia 1: 153].
Has been very unwell; has lost four-fifths of his time. Will go to Malvern to try the water-cure for his vomiting, which regular doctors cannot cure.
Has done some pretty homological work with cirripedes.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Richard Owen |
Date: | [24 Feb 1849] |
Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1228 |
To J. S. Bowerbank 24 February [1849]
Summary
Thanks him for cirripede specimens.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | James Scott Bowerbank |
Date: | 24 Feb [1849] |
Classmark: | Formerly Leeds City Libraries; for sale at Bonhams (dealers) (13 March 2002) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1229 |
letter | (82) |
Darwin, C. R. | (71) |
Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
Strickland, H. E. | (3) |
Darwin, Emma | (1) |
Dixon, E. S. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (9) |
Lyell, Charles | (7) |
Fox, W. D. | (5) |
Henslow, J. S. | (5) |
Hancock, Albany | (4) |
Bowerbank, J. S. | (1) |
Clapham, Abraham | (1) |
Covington, Syms | (1) |
Cresy, Edward, Jr | (1) |
Cuming, Hugh | (2) |
Dana, J. D. | (3) |
Darwin, C. R. | (80) |
Darwin, E. A. | (1) |
Darwin, Emma | (1) |
Darwin, S. E. | (1) |
Daubrée, Auguste | (1) |
Dixon, E. S. | (1) |
Fitch, Robert | (1) |
Forchhammer, J. G. | (4) |
Fox, W. D. | (5) |
Gould, A. A. | (1) |
Hancock, Albany | (4) |
Henslow, J. S. | (5) |
Herschel, J. F. W. | (1) |
Higgins, John | (2) |
Hooker, J. D. | (7) |
Hooker, W. J. | (1) |
Horner, M. E. | (1) |
Kerrison, E. H. | (1) |
Lovén, Sven | (1) |
Lyell, Charles | (7) |
Lyell, M. E. | (1) |
Milne-Edwards, Henri | (1) |
Murchison, R. I. | (1) |
Murray, John (b) | (2) |
Müller, Johannes | (1) |
Owen, Richard | (2) |
Ransome, George | (2) |
Reeve, L. A. | (1) |
Salt, Thomas | (4) |
Simmonds, P. L. | (1) |
Smith, Elder & Co | (1) |
Stanhope, E. H. | (1) |
Steenstrup, Japetus | (1) |
Strickland, H. E. | (7) |
Swale and Wilson | (1) |
Thompson, William (a) | (1) |
Unidentified | (1) |
Wedgwood, Emma | (1) |
Weld, C. R. | (1) |
Whitby, M. A. T. | (1) |
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 7 hits
- … On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good …
- … headaches, fatigue, trembling, faintness, and dizziness. In 1849, Darwin’s symptoms became so severe …
- … health diary (Down House MS), which he kept between 1 July 1849 and 16 January 1855, describes …
- … vol. 2). He suffered from persistent sickness in 1849, describing ‘incessant vomiting’ in his letter …
- … Correspondence vol. 4, letter to W. D. Fox, 24 [March 1849] , and Correspondence vol. 7, …
- … where he and his family spent three months in March 1849 (see Correspondence vol. 4). He also …
- … vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October 1849 , and Colp 1977, pp. 43-6). He underwent …
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
Matches: 10 hits
- … of an Admiralty Manual of scientific enquiry (1849) designed to guide the scientific work of …
- … for the Advancement of Science in Birmingham in September 1849. At Birmingham, Darwin made …
- … of expedience ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February 1849] ), but in the end he adhered to the …
- … History’ ( letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849] ). He also wrote a paper, which he sent …
- … with Darwin’s letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849] . As Darwin wrote to J. D. Hooker, …
- … fatigue and ill health ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 April 1849 ). Health and wealth …
- … 1847 and during the last half of 1848 and the beginning of 1849. When his father Robert Waring died …
- … to Down in June, is the subject of several letters in 1849. Darwin was convinced that it was a …
- … House MS) that he kept for the next five years. In December 1849, for example, he had 25 days that …
- … personal wealth considerable. In the year between September 1849 and September 1850, Darwin’s …
1.3 Thomas Herbert Maguire, lithograph
Summary
< Back to Introduction This striking portrait of Darwin, dating from 1849, belonged to a series of about sixty lithographic portraits of naturalists and other scientists drawn by Thomas Herbert Maguire. They were successively commissioned over a…
Matches: 5 hits
- … This striking portrait of Darwin, dating from 1849, belonged to a series of about sixty lithographic …
- … and Kirby. According to a report in the Athenaeum in 1849 , the original intention was simply …
- … and dated in the image, bottom right, ‘T.H. Maguire, 1849’. date of creation 1849 …
- … ‘Our weekly gossip’, Athenaeum , no. 1141 (8 Sept. 1849), pp. 913–914. ‘Review. Portraits of …
- … Secretary’, Gardeners’ Chronicle , 42 (20 October 1849), pp. 662–663. Letters from Darwin to …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 5 hits
- … to J. F. W. Herschel, ed., Manual of scientific enquiry (1849)]. Letter 1167 — …
- … 1262 — Darwin, C. R. to Hancock, Albany, [29–30 Oct 1849] Darwin thanks Hancock for specimens …
- … Letter 1251 — Darwin, C. R. to Gould, A. A., 20 Aug [1849] Darwin thanks J. D. Dana for …
- … Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., 3 Feb 1849 Hooker sends Darwin “a yarn about …
- … Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 12 Oct 1849 Darwin writes to Hooker about his …
Species and varieties
Summary
On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing as ‘species’ must therefore exist and be subject to description. But the title continues, …or…
Matches: 1 hits
- … synonyms’ ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February 1849] ). In the conclusion to …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 19 hits
- … Life of Wilkie [Cunningham 1843] & Chantry [G. Jones 1849]. Grote’s History of Greece …
- … Universelle ou traité des Cepages Comte Odart 1849” [Odart 1849] read very good . Rivers …
- … Nat. Hist. of Sutherlanshire, Murray [C. W. G. Saint-John 1849] (read) Knox. Ornithological …
- … on Pop. praised by Daily News. by M r Hicks [Hickson 1849] Published separately Taylor & …
- … India [Sleeman 1844] L d Cloncurry Memm [Lawless 1849] Lady Lyell Sir J Heads …
- … 1828–40] Campbell’s Chief Justices [J. Campbell 1849–57] Tocquevilles Democracy …
- … [J. Campbell 1845–7] Lives of the Lindsays [Lindsay 1849] D r Harvey’s Sea Side …
- … Aspects of Nature. Humboldt [A. von Humboldt 1849]. Liebigs Lectures on Chemistry [Liebig …
- … Inside Front Cover] Edig. New Phil. Journ.— 1849. Jan. Marten on Transportal of …
- … [Lamb 1837]. (good) [DAR 119: 22a] 1849. Feb 8 th . Geology of Russia by …
- … Marc 3 d Thompson’s Nat. Hist of Ireland [Thompson 1849–56]. Vol. I. II & 3 May. St. …
- … Nov 22. H. Miller Footsteps of the Creator [H. Miller 1849] Dec. 10. Dana’s Geology. U.S. …
- … 1849a and 1849b] Aug. 16 Harvey Sea-side Book [Harvey 1849] —— Agassiz Lake Superior …
- … Dec. 26. Count Odart’s Amelographie [Odart 1849] —— Richardson’s Boat Voyage [J. Richardson …
- … [W. Lloyd 1840].— [DAR 119: 22b] 1849 Feb. 5 th . Miss Martineau. …
- … June Brooks Four Months amongst Goldfinders [Brooks 1849] July 25. Campbell’s Chancellor’s [J …
- … [Fry 1847] (poor) Sept. 5. Newman on the Soul [Newman 1849] Nov. 4 th Burtons life …
- … . Jan 15 th Lives of Lindsays 3. Vols. [Lindsay 1849] Capital Feb. 6 th . …
- … Cure [Lane 1846] amusing June Layards Nineveh [Layard 1849] Vol 1. Vol. 2. Sept. 23 d . …
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
Here is a list of people that appeared in the photograph album Darwin received for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from scientific admirers in the Netherlands. Many thanks to Hester Loeff for identifying and researching them. No. …
Matches: 10 hits
- … College 28 Amsterdam 18 november 1849 Uithoorn 25 august …
- … Burghal School Enkhuizen 20-05-1849 Steenderen …
- … Arnhem High Burghal School Arnhem 1849 Den Bosch 18 …
- … School Amsterdam 29 march 1849 Sneek 31 july 1938 …
- … Burghal School 28 Goes 28 september 1849 Lichtenvoorde 13 …
- … History. Utrecht 16 august 1849 Angerlo 18 october 1930 …
- … Phil.nat.stud Leiden 24 january 1849 Monnickendam 8 …
- … College. Breda 21 september 1849 Den Bosch 13 oktober 1879 …
- … Clerk Winterswijk 23 january 1849 Amsterdam 5 December …
- … on Natural History. Middelburg 1849 Middelburg 1921 …
Darwin's notes for his physician, 1865
Summary
On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher who had studied medicine in London and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat…
Matches: 1 hits
- … been diagnosed as ‘suppressed gout’ by Henry Holland in 1849 ( Correspondence vol. 4, letter to W …
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
List of people appearing in the photograph album Darwin received from scientific admirers in the Netherlands for his birthday on 12 February 1877. We are grateful to Hester Loeff for providing this list and for permission to make her research available.…
Matches: 10 hits
- … College 28 Amsterdam 18 November 1849 Uithoorn 25 August …
- … Burghal School Enkhuizen 20 May 1849 Steenderen …
- … Arnhem High Burghal School Arnhem 1849 Den Bosch 18 …
- … School Amsterdam 29 March 1849 Sneek 31 July 1938 …
- … Burghal School 28 Goes 28 September 1849 Lichtenvoorde 13 …
- … History. Utrecht 16 August 1849 Angerlo 18 October 1930 …
- … Phil.nat.stud Leiden 24 January 1849 Monnickendam 8 …
- … College. Breda 21 September 1849 Den Bosch 13 October 1879 …
- … Clerk Winterswijk 23 January 1849 Amsterdam 5 December …
- … on Natural History. Middelburg 1849 Middelburg 1921 …
What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
Barnacles
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Darwin and barnacles Darwin’s interest in Cirripedia, a class of marine arthropods, was first piqued by the discovery of an odd burrowing barnacle, which he later named “Mr. Arthrobalanus," while he was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 1253 —Darwin to Albany Hancock, [21 Sept 1849] Darwin writes to barnacle expert …
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
Summary
George Eliot was the pen name of celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She was born on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire and was educated at boarding schools from the age of five until she was 16. Her education ended when she…
Matches: 1 hits
- … widened her social network and after her father's death in 1849 she travelled to Switzerland …
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
People featured in the German and Austrian photograph album
Summary
Biographical details of people from the Habsburg Empire that appeared in the album of German and Austrian scientists sent to Darwin on 12 February 1877. We are grateful to Johannes Mattes for providing these details and for permission to make his…
Julia Wedgwood
Summary
Charles Darwin’s readership largely consisted of other well-educated Victorian men, nonetheless, some women did read, review, and respond to Darwin’s work. One of these women was Darwin’s own niece, Julia Wedgwood, known in the family as “Snow”. In July…
Matches: 1 hits
- … intakes at both Queen’s and Bedford Colleges in 1848 and 1849. Her teachers included James Martineau …
William Yarrell
Summary
William Yarrell was a London businessman, a stationer and bookseller, who became an expert on British birds and fish, writing standard reference works on both. He was a member of several science and natural history societies, including the Linnean Society…
Matches: 1 hits
- … William Yarrell was a London businessman, a stationer and bookseller, who became an expert on …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 1 hits
- … MAY 1848 5 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 12 OCTOBER 1849 6 C DARWIN TO R …
Darwin's illness
Summary
Was Darwin an invalid? In many photographs he looks wearied by age, wrapped in a great coat to protect him from cold. In a letter to his cousin William Fox, he wrote: "Long and continued ill health has much changed me, & I very often think with…
Matches: 1 hits
- … clientele. He wrote from Malvern to his friend Hooker in 1849. " At present, I am …