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Movement in Plants

Summary

The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
  • … Why are the leaves & fruit of so many plants protected by a thin layer of waxy matter (like the …
  • … or fruit are immersed in water they appear as if encased in thin glass. It is really a pretty sight …
  • … plants. Returning to bloom in October 1873, he asked his son George to calculate ‘ what inclination …
  • … , a plant that exhibited all three types of movement ( letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July …
  • … the woodblock using photography for scientific accuracy ( letter from J. D. Cooper, 13 December …
  • … lost colour, withered, and died within a couple of days ( letter from A. F. Batalin, 28 February …
  • … how their observations could have been so much at odds ( letter to Hugo de Vries 13 February 1879 …
  • … the botanist Gaetano Durando, to find plants and seeds ( letter to Francis Darwin, [4 February – 8 …
  • … grass (Phalaris) & Oat. Also remember to learn about cutting thin sections of soft leaves &c …
  • … only the regulator & not cause of movement ’. In the same letter, Darwin discussed terminology, …
  • … to replace Frank’s ‘Transversal-Heliotropismus’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 10 February [1880] ). …
  • … experiments and devised a new test, which he described in a letter to his mother, ‘ I did some …
  • … and it appeared in 1880 (F. Darwin 1880b). In the same letter, Francis revealed the frustration of …
  • … on holiday in the Lake District, Darwin received a long letter from De Vries detailing his latest …
  • … ability of the parenchyma, the soft inner tissue composed of thin walled cells, and concluded, ‘ it …
  • … described as ‘little discs’ and ‘greenish bodies’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 29 October 1879 …
  • … of cotton that he had not been able to observe earlier ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 20 …
  • … might have been too weak to lift the weight of the seed ( letter from Asa Gray, 3 February 1880 ). …
  • … germination occurred, the plant would be killed by frost ( letter from Asa Gray, 4 April 1880 ). …
  • … Plants’ or ‘The Nature of the Movements of Plants’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 23 April [1880] ). …
  • … Phytographie  (A. de Candolle 1880). In his letter of thanks for the book, Darwin promised to send …
  • … for advice about the number of copies they should print ( letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880 ). …
  • … works, Murray was willing to publish on the usual terms ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880 ). …
  • … only suggest printing more copies or raising the price ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). …
  • … Stahl’s paper with him, for the relevant page numbers ( letter to Francis Darwin, 5 August [1880] …
  • … publisher, Eduard Koch had already agreed to publish it ( letter from J. V. Carus, 18 September …
  • … as stereotypes of the text were available from Murray ( letter from D. Appleton & Co., 17 …
  • … want of copies ’, leading Darwin to exclaim to his son George, ‘ Hurrah for the old bloody Times …

Before Origin: the ‘big book’

Summary

Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … to the entire natural history community by sending a letter to the Gardeners’ Chronicle , …
  • … it adequately. On 18 June 1858, Darwin received a now lost letter from Wallace enclosing his essay …
  • … I had, however, quite resigned myself & had written half a letter to Wallace to give up all …
  • … his chapter on mental powers and instinct to be published by George John Romanes in two of his …

The evolution of honeycomb

Summary

Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … a projected book on the species question, Darwin wrote to George Robert Waterhouse. Waterhouse had …
  • … principles and the proximity of other cells. Darwin’s letter has not been found, but from Waterhouse …
  • … were not subject to the space constraints of other cells. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 14 April …
  • … diameter being determined by her power of reaching.’ (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 10 February …
  • … were exercising their minds on the problem. In his next letter, Waterhouse described wasps’ nests …
  • … formal constraints as a group of bees working together. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 13 February …
  • … mind on the subjects of wasp’s nests. He sent another long letter to Darwin on the subject, this …
  • … the other straight sides that were bounded by other cells (letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 17 April …
  • … arranged to look at Tegetmeier’s piece of honeycomb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, [21 April 1858] …
  • … to keep an eye out for the first beginnings of the comb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 9 May [1858] …
  • … has not correctly described their manner of building’ (letter to W. E. Darwin, [26 May 1858] .) …
  • … hardly been begun; & all must be very minute. ( See the letter ) Darwin was …
  • … asked Tegetmeier to look out for isolated cylindrical cells (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 5 June …
  • … ordering another hive from Tegetmeier, and buying a swarm (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 8 [June …
  • … the left-hand clump of cells. Secondly, Darwin put a thin piece of vermilion wax in the hive, …
  • … came to have flat bottoms; and these flat bottoms, formed by thin little plates of the vermilion wax …
  • … Waterhouse reviewed the latest controversies in his letter to Darwin of 2 August 1858 . The …
  • … of bee cell sizes might have a simple explanation. (Letter to Richard Hill, 8 August [1859] .) …
  • … are different sizes) was carried out in different ways (letter from Jeffries Wyman, 11 January …
  • … Darwin’s conclusions about the building of cells. (Letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 8 September [1858] …
  • … bought to bear, a myth. In 1865, Darwin received a letter from Edward Cresy (letter from …

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: 26 hits

  • … effects of different chemicals on chlorophyll by examining thin slices of plant tissue under a …
  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
  • … not differing from one another at all in appearance in fresh thin slices, yet are found to differ …
  • … respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John Romanes about new varieties of …
  • … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
  • … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
  • … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
  • … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
  • … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
  • … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
  • … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
  • … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
  • … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
  • … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
  • … This was confirmed by one of his correspondents. A clerk, George Frederick Crawte, recounted a …
  • … transit of Venus on an expedition to Queensland, Australia. George’s recent work had been highly …
  • … Robert Stawell Ball that was printed in Nature declared George ‘the discoverer of tidal …
  • … the great judges think highly of the work … I believe that George will some day be a great …
  • … family and close friends grew worried. Letters were sent to George, who was soon to return from …
  • … 3 April 1882 ). He sent a cheque for a memorial to the late George Rolleston ( letter to H. N. …
  • … carried him off the next day. Henrietta immediately wrote to George, who had visited Down on 11 …
  • … a rare declaration on the origins of life to the chemist George Warington, who was keen to reconcile …
  • … to remain each man’s private property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). …
  • … One of Darwin’s other great loves, dogs, was indulged by George Cupples, a writer and experienced …
  • … can assure you, we will all make much of him’ ( letter to George Cupples, 20 September [1870] ). …

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: 6 hits

  • … Darwin began the ice treatment on 20 May 1865. In his letter to Chapman of 7 June 1865, he reported …
  • … week of July, he had evidently given up the treatment (see letter from Charles and Emma Darwin to J. …
  • … gout’ by Henry Holland in 1849 ( Correspondence vol. 4, letter to W. D. Fox, 6 February [1849]). …
  • … made more recently by William Brinton, William Jenner, and George Busk (see letter to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … 11, Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863]). In his letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 [November 1863] …
  • … with dietary restrictions (see Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864], …

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: 20 hits

  • … had trained in zoology. New studies of animal instincts by George John Romanes drew upon Darwin’s …
  • … my grandfather’s character is of much value to me’ ( letter to C. H. Tindal, 5 January 1880 ). …
  • … have influenced the whole Kingdom, & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 …
  • … explain away y r . treatment of [William Alvey Darwin],’ George wrote on 28 May 1880 , ‘I … …
  • … a round of visits.’ One cousin, Reginald Darwin, warmed to George: ‘he had been alarmed at a …
  • … much powder & shot’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 , and …
  • … modified; but now I much regret that I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). …
  • … and in some of Darwin’s harsh critics, especially St George Mivart. Butler was unsatisfied with …
  • … and uncertain about what to do. He drafted two versions of a letter to the Athen æum , sending …
  • … in which he will have the last word’, she warned ( letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] …
  • … who will fight to the end’, added her husband Richard ( letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February …
  • … him & given him Darwinophobia? It is a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February …
  • … squashing the ‘mosquito inflated to an elephant’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 9 December 1880 ). …
  • … inches of soil as a protection against enemies.’ ‘Your letter … made me open my eyes’, Gray replied …
  • … his original description. Darwin was puzzled: ‘If my letter opened your eyes, yours has opened mine …
  • … to the same species, should behave so differently.’ ( Letter to Asa Gray, 17 February 1880 .) But …
  • … of the plant in its native habitat. He forwarded a letter from a botanist and schoolteacher in …
  • … ‘Where is the profit for Author or publisher?’ ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). ‘I must …
  • … ( letter from F. M. Balfour, [22 November 1880] ). George Romanes, who had worked on the nerves of …
  • … delight in his children’s accomplishments. He consoled George about his poor health and difficulties …

Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep

Summary

In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…

Matches: 30 hits

  • … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
  • … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
  • … that if little squares (about 4th of inch) of card & thin paper of exactly same size are fixed …
  • … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
  • … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
  • … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
  • … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
  • … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
  • … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
  • … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
  • … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
  • … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
  • … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
  • … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
  • … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
  • … in a booboo, whereas I ought to have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). …
  • … dear no”’. Darwin shared some of his observations with George John Romanes, who was engaged in his …
  • … close down on the object, but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). …
  • … idiot, a deaf-mute, a monkey & a baby in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September …
  • … that I want to play the part of a thieving wasp’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 21 June 1878 ). …
  • … than zoology, where his work had been more controversial ( letter from J.-B. Dumas and Joseph …
  • … me Dr Darwin, the title seems to me quite ridiculous’ ( letter to John Price, 2 April [1878] ). …
  • … of the “imperfection of the Geological Record”’ ( letter from Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár, 28 …
  • … science our atlas would not have come together’ ( letter from Arnold Dodel-Port, 18 June 1878 ). …
  • … or religious prejudice. An engineer in Bohemia addressed his letter to ‘the inspired hermit of Down’ …
  • … in Germany, as if they had been school-boys’ ( letter to Karl von Scherzer, 1 April 1878 ). …
  • … a personal god with the ‘eternity of matter’ ( letter from H. N. Ridley, [before 28 November 1878] …
  • … of evolutionary progress was raised by the portrait-painter George Arthur Gaskell, who suggested …
  • … preferred to engage with critics through correspondence, George asked his father’s advice on …
  • … Society of London by Samuel Haughton. ‘If I do write’, George worried, ‘I’m pretty sure to get in …

Beauty and the seed

Summary

One of the real pleasures afforded in reading Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the discovery of areas of research on which he never published, but which interested him deeply. We can gain many insights about Darwin’s research methods by following these …

Matches: 9 hits

  • … about Darwin’s research methods by following these ‘letter trails’ and observing how correspondence …
  • … were inspired by recent criticism or new research. In 1865, George Douglas Campbell, the eighth duke …
  • … Towards the end of September 1866 Darwin received a letter from Fritz Müller, a German naturalist …
  • … had begun to correspond with Darwin only a year earlier. The letter is now incomplete; Darwin had …
  • … composite of letter from Müller to Darwin, 2 Aug 1866, in Darwin’s experimental notebook"," …
  • … birds. I rec d  some seeds the day after receiving your letter; & I must own that the fleshy …
  • … C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 25 Sept [1866] This letter must have crossed in the post with a …
  • … brilliant red pearls. By the time he received Darwin’s letter he had found yet more examples and …
  • … by our Jacús ( Penelope ) or other birds.’ ( see the letter ) By this time Darwin had already …

Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia

Summary

Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…

Matches: 11 hits

  • … voyage. Darwin expressed his current enthusiasm in a letter to William Darwin Fox, 23 May 1833 ( …
  • … were well developed, as is shown by his correspondence with George Robert Waterhouse. On [26 July …
  • … was challenged in 1859 by August Krohn. As he admitted in a letter to Charles Lyell, 28 September …
  • … (as Darwin called it in his Autobiography and in his letter to Lyell), was more than a matter of …
  • … Toward the end of his study of Balanus , in a letter to Hooker on 25 September [1853] ( …
  • … latter instrument suited his purposes well; he reported in a letter to Richard Owen, 26 March 1848 …
  • … and mounting his specimens is well demonstrated by a letter he wrote to Charles Spence Bate, 13 …
  • … namely in common water without any spirits, with a Bit of thin glass over the object (without any …
  • … Informing Darwin about the award ( Correspondence vol. 5, letter from J. D. Hooker, [4 November …
  • … it was empirically invalid ( Calendar nos. 2118 and 2119, letter to T. H. Huxley, 5 July [1857] …
  • … ^9^ CD discussed his conception of archetype in a letter to Huxley, 23 April [1853] ( …