To J. D. Hooker 6 September [1857]
Summary
Some negative results in variety tabulation survey.
Galls on wild carrot.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 6 Sept [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 209 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2137 |
To J. D. Hooker [21 March 1857]
Summary
Ranges of species in large vs small genera: Asa Gray’s compilation fits CD’s expectation.
CD studies seedling mortality in his weed garden.
JDH’s work on Indian flora.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [21 Mar 1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 192a |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2067 |
To J. D. Hooker 16 [May 1857]
Summary
Asks JDH’s opinion, and botanical evidence, on important law: parts that are highly developed in comparison to other allied species are very variable.
Interest in hairiness of alpine plants revived by reading A. Moquin-Tandon [Éléments de tératologie végétale (1841)]; correlation with dryness. CD seeks interpretation independent of direct environmental effect.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 16 [May 1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 197 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2092 |
To J. D. Hooker 30 September [1857]
Summary
C. F. Ledebour [Flora rossica (1842–53)] particularly useful for variety tabulation. Results generally favourable.
Additions to Down House.
Last two chapters of MS took six months to write.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 30 Sept [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 210 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2148 |
To William Sharpey 9 April [1857]
Summary
Recommendations of books of general interest [for the Royal Society library]. These include [Louis] Agassiz’s works, [William] McGillivray’s [History of] British birds, and David Low’s [On the domesticated animals of the British Islands].
Comments on current candidates for the Royal Society.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Sharpey |
| Date: | 9 Apr [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 249: 128 (photocopy) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2073F |
To J. D. Hooker [23 October 1857]
Summary
Return of books.
JDH coming to Down.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | [23 Oct 1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 214 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2157 |
To J. D. Hooker 1 August [1857]
Summary
Important issue at stake with new flora calculations: evidence that species are only strongly marked varieties. Planning large-scale survey.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 1 Aug [1857] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 206, 207 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2130 |
| letter | (7) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (6) |
| Sharpey, William | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (7) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (6) |
| Sharpey, William | (1) |
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 346: Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, C. S., 27 Feb 1837 Darwin’s first letter on the …
Variation under domestication
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A fascination with domestication Throughout his working life, Darwin retained an interest in the history, techniques, practices, and processes of domestication. Artificial selection, as practiced by plant and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the variation present in domestic species. Letter 1837 — Darwin to Thwaites, G.H.K. 8 …
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…
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: 29 hits
- … sleep & movements of plants £ 1 ..s 4. [Dutrochet 1837] Voyage aux terres australes …
- … of useful knowledge Horse, cow, sheep [Youatt 1831, 1834, 1837]. Verey Philosophie d’Hist. …
- … contains all his fathers views Quoted by Owen [Hunter 1837] [DAR *119: 3v.] Hunter …
- … 11 besides the paper collected by Owen [Hunter 1837] (at Shrewsbury). Yarrells paper on …
- … of plants. 13 Books quoted by Herbert [Herbert 1837] p. 338 Schiede in 1825 …
- … remarks on acclimatizing of plants. Herbert [Herbert 1837] p. 348 gives reference to …
- … notes to White Nat. Hist of Selbourne [E. T. Bennett ed. 1837 and [J. Rennie] ed. 1833] read 19 : …
- … 6: folio par Céran de Lemonier. Bailliere [Céran-Lemonnier 1837] Transactions of the …
- … history of British Birds by W. Macgillivray [W. Macgillivray 1837–52].— I should think well worth …
- … Instinct & Reason by S. Bushnan. Longman. 5 s [Bushnan 1837]—dedicated to L d . Brougm. 26 …
- … of Brutes [Fabricius 1603]. referred to by Hallam [Hallam 1837–9] D r . Lord has written …
- … analysis of British Ferns. G. W. Francis 4 s [Francis 1837]— plates of every species—treats of …
- … [Hogarth 1835] Wilkinson Ægyptian [J. G. Wilkinson 1837–41] read [DAR *119: 14v.] …
- … At end of 2 d . Vol of Müller Phy. [Müller 1837–42] references to some good Books Blacklock …
- … “Vergleich: Anat der Myxinoiden”. Müller [Müller 1837] Towards end of paper describes anomalies …
- … Miss. Martineau Society in America [H. Martineau 1837] Bamfords Life of a Radical [Bamford …
- … t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] Lamb’s Letters [Lamb 1837] (read) Feuerbaches Trials …
- … very good . Rivers Catalogue of Roses [Rivers 1837] Saunders Map-seller Charing Cross …
- … Society in America. Miss Martineau [H. Martineau 1837] Layards Babylon [Layard 1853] …
- … of London 1839] (List from Muller & Bronn [Müller 1837–42 and Bronn 1842–3] in this Book) …
- … Society ] Asiatic Journ. of London to end of 1837 [ Journal of the Royal Asiatic …
- … 1838a] Mayo Philosophy of Art of Living [H. Mayo 1837] [DAR 119: 3a] …
- … 1643] Lyell’s Book III 5th Edit 58 [Lyell 1837]— There are many marginal notes …
- … 59 Hunters animal economy edited by Owen [Hunter 1837], read several papers all that bear …
- … Oct 12 th W. Earle’s 60 Eastern Seas [Earl 1837]. 12th Sir S. 61 Stauntons Embassy …
- … [Lessing 1836] Whewell inductive History [Whewell 1837] References at end Herschel’s …
- … 1839 Jan 10 All life of W. Scott [Lockhart 1837–8] except 5 th vol. 19 Mungo …
- … 1831] 4 vols 25 Phillips Geology [J. Phillips 1837–9] Lardners 2 nd vol March 16 …
- … 1817] —— Herbert on Hybrid mixture [Herbert 1837]— marginal notes 20 th Carlyles …
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 9 hits
- … the most important of Darwin’s activities during the years 1837–43 was unquestionably his work on …
- … species came to be as they are (Kohn 1980). Between April 1837 and September 1838 he filled several …
- … voyage. The book was finished and set in type by November 1837, though not published until 1839, …
- … countries visited by H.M.S. Beagle . Also in November 1837, Darwin read the fourth of a series of …
- … May 1838] ). The new research Darwin undertook after 1837 was an extension and an …
- … Lyell had called the ‘mystery of mysteries’ (see Babbage 1837 and Cannon 1961). In the …
- … species and varieties had no basis in reality (W. Herbert 1837, p. 341); species were only clearly …
- … Health Active and productive as the years 1837–43 were, they were also years during which …
- … seeds and other interests mentioned in the correspondence of 1837–43, which at first seem unrelated, …
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…
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Elizabeth Wedgwood & Josiah Wedgwood to Darwin, 10 November [1837] Written by Emma’s …
4.2 Augustus Earle, caricature drawing
Summary
< Back to Introduction The paucity of evidence for Darwin’s appearance and general demeanour during the years of the Beagle voyage gives this humorous drawing of shipboard life a special interest. It is convincingly attributed to Augustus Earle, an…
Journal of researches
Summary
Within two months of the Beagle’s arrival back in England in October 1836, Darwin, although busy with distributing his specimens among specialists for description, and more interested in working on his geological research, turned his mind to the task of…
Matches: 5 hits
- … as he explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in March 1837: ‘ I intend giving a kind of journal …
- … which will much add to the value of the whole .’ By July 1837, Darwin had finished the draft of his …
- … flurry of activity had been spurred by assurances in May 1837 that Darwin’s volume would ‘begin to …
- … the first manuscript pages had been sent off. On 1 August 1837, he reminded the dilatory Henslow …
- … than the other two volumes, so, as early as September 1837, he had secured an agreement with …
Introduction to the Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle
Summary
'a humble toadyish follower…': Not all pictures of Darwin during the Beagle voyage are flattering. Published here for the first time is a complete transcript of a satirical account of the Beagle’s brief visit in 1836 to the Cocos Keeling islands…
Matches: 6 hits
- … – he responded brutally to the Cocos-Keeling protests in 1837, but he claimed to be the champion of …
- … men, women and children. At the time of the disturbances in 1837, Ross spoke of two hundred Malays, …
- … all British residents except the Ross family, left after 1837. John Clunies Ross (1786 …
- … FitzRoy and, more importantly, for encouraging discontent in 1837. Leisk and his family “decamped” …
- … HMS Pelorus , Harding visited Cocos-Keeling in December 1837, having been sent to investigate the …
- … a chief instigator of the resistance to Ross’ authority in 1837. In this ms., Ross sometimes refers …
Darwin & coral reefs
Summary
The central idea of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, as it was later formulated, was that the islands were formed by the upward growth of coral as the Pacific Ocean floor gradually subsided. It overturned previous ideas and would in itself…
Darwin & the Geological Society
Summary
The science of geology in the early nineteenth century was a relatively new enterprise forged from the merging of several distinct traditions of inquiry, from mineralogy and the very practical business of mining, to theories of the earth’s origin and the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the voyager after the Beagle returned. Between January 1837 and March 1838, Darwin became a …
Alexander Burns Usborne
Summary
Alexander Burns Usborne was born in Kendal, Westmorland, in 1808, the son of Alexander and Margaret Usborne; his father died in 1818 and in his will was described as the purser on HMS Hannibal. His son joined the navy in 1825 aged 16 as a second-class…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Constitucion , to survey the coast of Peru, 1835–6. In 1837 he was appointed acting master for the …
Darwin’s species notebooks: ‘I think . . .’
Summary
I have lately been sadly tempted to be idle, that is as far as pure geology is concerned, by the delightful number of new views, which have been coming in, thickly & steadily, on the classification & affinities & instincts of animals—bearing…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to Charles Lyell, [14] September [1838] In 1837, living in London and just off …
Conrad Martens
Summary
Conrad Martens was born in London, the son of an Austrian diplomat. He studied landscape painting under the watercolourist Copley Fielding (1789–1855), who also briefly taught Ruskin. In 1833 he was on board the Hyacinth, headed for India, but en route in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … visited Martens and both commissioned paintings. In 1837 some of Martens’s Australian …
George Peacock
Summary
George Peacock was born 9 April 1791 in Denton near Darlington in Yorkshire. He was the son of a clergyman, the Rev. Thomas Peacock, curate of Denton for 50 years and school master. George was educated at Sedbergh School, Cumbria and Richmond School in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … appointed Lowndean Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge in 1837. Running parallel to his busy …
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. …
Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … papers presented to the Geological Society of London in 1837. He had been inspired by observations …
'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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 2, letter to W. D. Fox, 28 August [1837]). Later he gradually gave up shooting …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Dean of Manchester, in his work on the Amaryllidaceæ (1837, p. 19, 339), declares that ‘ …
