From G. J. Romanes [6 or 13 or 20] March 1881
Summary
Intends experiment to see if cats released in country can find their way back.
| Author: | George John Romanes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [6, 13 or 20] Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | E. D. Romanes 1896, p. 107 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13069 |
From ? [March 1881]
Summary
Notes on the thickness of mould on the slope of the inland side of Beachy Head.
| Author: | Unidentified |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Mar 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 65: 76 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13070 |
From Anthony Rich 1 March 1881
Summary
AR plans, when he dies, to leave sea-side house at Worthing to Huxley.
| Author: | Anthony Rich |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 146 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13071 |
From Anthony Rich 4 March 1881
Summary
Pleased that Huxley is likely to accept gift of AR’s house.
| Author: | Anthony Rich |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 147 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13072 |
To T. H. Huxley 5 March 1881
Summary
CD tells how it came about that Anthony Rich bequeathed his house and land to THH.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Date: | 5 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 5: 359) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13073 |
From T. H. Huxley 6 March 1881
Summary
Astonished by Rich’s act. Has written to him.
| Author: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine Archives (Huxley 9: 209) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13074 |
To G. J. Romanes 7 March [1881]
Summary
Comments on the meaning of his definition of the term, "animal intelligence". Encloses further discussion from his forthcoming book [Earthworms].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George John Romanes |
| Date: | 7 Mar [1881] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.584) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13075 |
From Francis Galton 7 March 1881
Summary
Reports observations of worms for CD’s use.
| Author: | Francis Galton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: A106–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13076 |
From J. H. Gilbert 7 March 1881
Summary
Sends some books.
| Author: | Joseph Henry Gilbert |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | Rothamsted Research (GIL13) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13076F |
From G. J. Romanes 7 March 1881
Summary
Responds to MS of Earthworms. An objective but arbitrary test of intelligence in animals is the ability to learn from experience. Earthworms fall on the border of intelligence. They could justly be called intelligent if they could learn by experience to manipulate some unknown, exotic leaf. CD should make clear that intelligence does not imply self-consciousness.
| Author: | George John Romanes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 216 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13077 |
To Francis Galton 8 March [1881]
Summary
Discusses dead earthworms on surface of ground after rainfall.
Describes experiments involving sensitivity of earthworms to light and how it reflects on their intelligence.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Galton |
| Date: | 8 Mar [1881] |
| Classmark: | UCL Library Services, Special Collections (GALTON/1/1/9/5/7/31) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13078 |
From Frank Norgate [8 March 1881]
Summary
Sends a number of facts for CD’s attention, including cases of water-beetles and newts in his aquarium having a foot caught by small bivalves. This might explain migration of bivalves.
| Author: | Frank Norgate |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [8 Mar 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.3 (Letters): 284 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13079 |
From Anthony Rich 8 March 1881
Summary
Huxley has written to accept gift of Rich’s house.
Approves of Lord Derby’s politics.
| Author: | Anthony Rich |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 148 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13080 |
From J. W. Jeudwine 8 March [1881–2]
Summary
Requests a subscription for Shrewsbury School.
| Author: | John Wynne Jeudwine |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 8 Mar 1881-2 |
| Classmark: | DAR 168: 63 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13081 |
To G. J. Romanes 9 March [1881]
Summary
Comments on GJR’s view of animal consciousness. Mentions experiment on learning among worms.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George John Romanes |
| Date: | 9 Mar [1881] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.585) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13082 |
From James Torbitt 10 March 1881
Summary
Sends CD some samples of recent produce. Is "pretty well disgusted by the apathy and stupidity" he has encountered whilst trying to arouse interest and support for his work.
| Author: | James Torbitt |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 173, DAR 52: E6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13083 |
From Henri de Saussure 14 March 1881
Summary
Sends boxes of Lake Geneva pebbles that CD requested.
| Author: | Henri Louis Frédéric (Henri) de Saussure |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 41 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13084 |
From H. M. Wallis 14 March 1881
Summary
Reports some observations on the growth of hair on his baby son’s ears.
| Author: | Henry Marriage Wallis |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.9: 15 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13085 |
To James Torbitt 15 March 1881
Summary
Obliged for potatoes. Has instructed that they be planted and labelled.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Torbitt |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 148: 128 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13086 |
To J. H. Gilbert 15 March 1881
Summary
Returns the two books JHG had lent him. "I can plainly see I had better say nothing about the acidity of common mould."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Henry Gilbert |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | Rothamsted Research (GIL13) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13087 |
| letter | (37) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (17) |
| Rich, Anthony | (3) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (3) |
| Wallis, H. M. | (2) |
| D. Appleton & Co | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (20) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (3) |
| Wallis, H. M. | (2) |
| Carus, J. V. | (1) |
| Galton, Francis | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (37) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (6) |
| Wallis, H. M. | (4) |
| Rich, Anthony | (3) |
| Galton, Francis | (2) |
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Matches: 24 hits
- … (1) Abney, W. de W. (3) Accademia dei Lincei …
- … (1) Ainslie, O. A. (3) Airy, Hubert …
- … (4) Alberts, Maurice (3) Albrecht, R. F. …
- … (1) Ambrose, J. L. (3) American Academy of …
- … (1) Anderson, James (c) (3) Anderson-Henry, …
- … (1) Badger, E. W. (3) Baer, K. E. von …
- … (1) Balch, C. L. (3) Baldwin, J. D. …
- … (5) Ball, Robert (3) Ball, Valentine …
- … (1) Beal, W. J. (3) Beale, L. S. (2) …
- … (1) Beddoe, John (3) Beger, Karl (2) …
- … (66) Bergson, Edouard (3) Bergstedt, C. F. …
- … (4) Blake, C. C. (3) Blanche (2) …
- … (1) Blewitt, Octavian (3) Blomefield, Leonard …
- … (5) Boole, M. E. (3) Boott, Francis …
- … (1) Bornet, Édouard (3) Bosquet, J. A. H. de …
- … (1) Bouton, Louis (3) Bowerbank, J. S. …
- … (1) Bridgman, W. K. (3) Brigg, John …
- … (1) Brown-Séquard, C. É. (3) Browne, H. G. C. …
- … (2) Burgess, Thomas (3) Burn, Robert …
- … (1) Bush, John (3) Busk, George (18) …
- … (2) Butler, Mary (3) Butler, Samuel (b) …
- … (1) Campbell, G. D. (3) Canby, W. M. …
- … (9) Cattell, John (3) Cecil, Henry …
- … (7) Chance, Frank (3) Chancellor of the …
German poems presented to Darwin
Summary
Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…
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: 5 hits
- … at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] ). Darwin’s …
- … been ‘ utterly smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A chronological list of all …
- … and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like François Jules …
- … I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the end of 1860, …
- … is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further details of the …
Teaching Evolution at Key Stage 3? Join our December workshop
Summary
This free, exciting training and consultation event takes place on Tuesday 12th December at Cambridge University Library, 9.00-4.30. The workshop aims to support KS3 science teachers in delivering informed, dynamic Darwin-based sessions.
Matches: 1 hits
- … This exciting training and consultation event takes place on Tuesday 12th December at Cambridge …
4.42 'Punch' Sambourne cartoon 3
Summary
< Back to Introduction Linley Sambourne’s last caricature of Darwin, ‘Man is But a Worm’, was published in Punch’s Almanac for 1882 on 6 December 1881, only four months before Darwin’s death. Like Sambourne’s ‘Punch’s Fancy Portraits. No. 54. Charles…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Linley Sambourne’s last caricature of Darwin, ‘Man is But a …
3.6 William Darwin, photo 3
Summary
< Back to Introduction A photograph of Darwin apparently taken outdoors (he is seated on a chair but swathed in a cloak and rug) is undated and undocumented. It exists only as an unprinted collodion positive in the Darwin archive, strongly suggesting…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction A photograph of Darwin apparently taken outdoors (he is …
I beg a million pardons: To John Lubbock, [3 September 1862]
Summary
Alison Pearn looks at a letter Darwin wrote to his neighbour and friend, John Lubbock, after making a mistake in his research on bees in 1862.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Alison Pearn looks at a letter Darwin wrote to his neighbour and friend, …
4.46 'Puck' cartoon 3
Summary
< Back to Introduction In 1885 Darwin made yet another posthumous appearance in the New York satirical magazine Puck – again in a religious context. ‘SHEOL’ referred to the recently published Revised edition of the Bible, which modified the text of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In 1885 Darwin made yet another posthumous appearance in the …
Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 8 hits
- … of a ‘short essay’ on man ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 3 July 1868 ). But this work would eventually …
- … pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). But such worries were …
- … kind almost heroic, in you to sacrifice your hair and pay 3 d in the cause of science …
- … canary (letters from J. J. Weir, [26] March 1868 and 3 June 1868 ). ‘It was very kind’, …
- … on 9 September . Darwin annotated a letter sent on 3 April by Henry Doubleday that contained a …
- … you have communicated to me’ ( letter to Fritz Müller, 3 June 1868 ). it is a fatal …
- … of species through the study of monstrosities, remarked on 3 April , ‘your works are destined to …
- … admirer of your genius’, wrote Frederick Behrens on 3 December , ‘I presume you are much plagued …
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: 6 hits
- … Surgeons [DAR *119: 1] Books to be Read 3 “Traité de la Folie des …
- … on Annals of Nat. Hist. [Jenyns 1838] Prichard; a 3 d . vol [Prichard 1836–47] Lawrence [W. …
- … ou Traité de Tératologie, par I. Geoffroy-Saint Hilaire, 3 vols. 8vo. et atlas de 20 planches. ibid, …
- … of Human wishes. 28 Bacon’s Essays [Bacon 1825–36].— Butler. 3. first sermons …
- … 1826]— (read) Pallas’ Travels [Pallas 1802–3]— Hookker (623 no) read Darby’s Louisiana …
- … Drinkwater] 1833]— Prof. Smyth. French Revolution 3 vols [Smyth 1840] Baber’s …
Darwin in Conversation exhibition
Summary
Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before. Come to our exhibition at Cambridge University Library, running from 9 July to 3 December 2022, and discover a fascinating series of interwoven conversations with Darwin's many hundreds of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 9 July – 3 December 2022 Milstein Exhibition Centre, Cambridge University …
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 4 hits
- … ( to Charles Layton, 24 November [1869] ). From the 3 rd edition on, each English …
- … ( Origin 2d ed, p. 481). 2 nd to 3 rd editions; US edition …
- … changes, was doomed to disappointment. 3 rd to 4 th editions …
- … to include at least one change only previously made in the 3 rd German edition . I …
Language: Interview with Gregory Radick
Summary
Darwin made a famous comment about parallels between changes in language and species change. Gregory Radick, Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at Leeds University, talks about the importance of the development of language to Darwin, what…
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 5 hits
- … to the subject of cross and self-fertilisation. On 3 October , he wrote with fresh enthusiasm to …
- … other interested parties. Darwin was summoned to testify on 3 November. It caused him much anxiety, …
- … for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). In the event, the …
- … weekly publications of Natural History’, he explained on 3 June , ‘are not sufficiently …
- … time I can talk to anyone’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 3 May [1875] ). Finally it was arranged for …
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…
Darwin And Evolution
Summary
What is evolution? What did Darwin discover and how did he come to his conclusions?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Activities give an introduction to Charles Darwin and his theories of evolution. Specimens brought …
Darwin's Fantastical Voyage
Summary
Learn about Darwin's adventures on his epic journey.
Matches: 1 hits
- … These activities explore Darwin’s life changing voyage aboard HMS Beagle. Using letters home, …
Detecting Darwin
Summary
Who was Charles Darwin? What is he famous for? Why is he still important?
Matches: 1 hits
- … Pupils act as Darwin detectives, exploring clues about Darwin’s life and work. No prior knowledge …
Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms
Summary
‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Kingdom, & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 ). Darwin’s sons George …
- … regret that I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). At the top of Butler’s …
- … It is a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February 1880 ). All went quiet until …
- … letter … made me open my eyes’, Gray replied on 3 February , but he affirmed his original …
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),…
