To Charles James Fox Bunbury [20 March 1855]
Summary
CD hopes to have an hour’s talk with CJFB before CD leaves London.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles James Fox Bunbury, 8th baronet |
| Date: | [20 Mar 1855] |
| Classmark: | John Hay Library, Brown University |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13784 |
To Roderick Impey Murchison 3 June [1855]
Summary
Accepts invitation for the 20th.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Roderick Impey Murchison, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 3 June [1855] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13831 |
To ? 7 December [1855–7?]
Summary
Concerning specimens he wants collected in the Azores.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 7 Dec [1855-7] |
| Classmark: | DAR 249: 93 (photocopy) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13867A |
From [J. B. Innes] [after 8 February – August 1855]
Summary
Provides another case of apparently pure bred pointers producing litter with one setter puppy. Correspondent was told that this occurred in several litters; gives names of owners and others who can corroborate the information.
| Author: | John Brodie Innes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 8 Feb – Aug 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 163: 5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13870 |
To William and Julius Fairbeard [October 1855 – May 1856]
Summary
Five questions on variability in peas.
W & JF recommended to CD by Mr Cattell.
CD planted an experimental pea garden this summer.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William & Julius Fairbeard |
| Date: | [Oct 1855 – May 1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 206: 38 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1467 |
From J. D. Dana [before 6 December 1855]
Summary
Responds to CD’s criticism of his use of word "Kingdom" in discussing geographical distribution of Crustacea.
| Author: | James Dwight Dana |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 6 Dec 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR (CD library – Dana, J. D. 1853) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1544 |
From Bartholomew James Sulivan 2 February [1855]
Summary
The only mainland vegetation he saw on Falkland Island shores were trees. Remembers no strange birds there, but on journey home saw a woodcock more than 500 miles from the nearest land.
| Author: | Bartholomew James Sulivan |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Feb [1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.2: 251 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1551 |
To Francis Galton 22 February [1855]
Summary
Thanks for FG’s note and trouble in searching out pigeons.
Is obliged to FG for obtaining C. J. Andersson’s offer of information about breeds of cattle in South Africa.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Galton |
| Date: | 22 Feb [1855] |
| Classmark: | National Library of South Africa, Cape Town |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1554F |
From Francis Galton to Charles John Andersson [after 22 February 1855]
Summary
Sends on CD’s list of enquiries about native breeds of animals in South Africa.
| Author: | Francis Galton |
| Addressee: | Charles John (Carl Johann) Andersson |
| Date: | [after 22 Feb 1855] |
| Classmark: | National Library of South Africa, Cape Town |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1554G |
From Charles Cardale Babington [c. June 1855]
Summary
Reports that he sees the oxlip, cowslip, and primrose as really distinct species; hybrids are formed between any two.
| Author: | Charles Cardale Babington |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [c. June 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1584 |
DCP-LETT-1618
Summary
Cancelled: part of 1757. Has examined a specimen of [of what he had previously described as the ovaria of Lepadidae, see Living Cirripedia 1: 57-8]. Could not find cells resembling ovigerms. When THH has seen the organ in different states, and can say positively that in none could ovigerms be in formation, CD will 'give up the ghost handsomely and entirely'.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Date: | [1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 145: 161, 222 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1618 |
From Arthur Edward Knox [c. March 1855–7?]
Summary
CD has suggested an explanation of how pike were introduced to a remote lake in Ireland by cormorants [carrying pike spawn on their feet or in their gullets].
| Author: | Arthur Edward Knox |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | Mar 1855-7 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.2: 243 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1624 |
From G. R. Waterhouse [after 2 March 1855]
Summary
Gives instances of sexual differences in the number of tarsi within species of Coleoptera and also variation in the number of tarsi between related species.
| Author: | George Robert Waterhouse |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 2 Mar 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 47: 133–4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1625 |
To Charles Lyell 10 January [1855]
Summary
Discusses views of Daniel Sharpe on foliation and cleavage. Recalls his own previous discussion [in South America].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 10 Jan [1855] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.110) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1626 |
To Francis Galton 1 January [1855]
Summary
Thanks FG for book [The art of travel (1855)].
Is looking for a house in London for a month.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Galton |
| Date: | 1 Jan [1855] |
| Classmark: | UCL Library Services, Special Collections (GALTON/1/1/9/5/7/3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1627 |
To J. W. Lubbock 10 January [1855]
Summary
Reports that his intercession with Folliott Baugh [Rector of Chelsfield, Kent] has had no effect. Baugh still believes Farnborough’s rights have not been attended to if entire fund is applied to the school at Down.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John William Lubbock, 3d baronet |
| Date: | 10 Jan [1855] |
| Classmark: | The Royal Society (LUB: D21) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1628 |
To Charles Lyell 14 January [1855]
Summary
Has found a house on Baker Street to take for a month.
Mentions Daniel Sharpe’s study of the Grampians.
Association of various metamorphic rocks and relationship of their foliation to their dip and strike. Discusses foliation of schists and its origin. Comments on fluidity of gneiss and schists.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1855] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.111) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1630 |
To J. W. Lubbock 15 [January 1855]
Summary
CD called on Baugh but found him adamant; he has already laid the case before the [Charity] Commissioners and if necessary will take it to a Court of Equity.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John William Lubbock, 3d baronet |
| Date: | 15 [Jan 1855] |
| Classmark: | The Royal Society (LUB: D22) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1631 |
To Charles Lyell [21 January – 11 February 1855]
Summary
Relationship of schists to alternating beds of slate in western Tierra del Fuego and the Chonos Islands.
Comments on Sharpe’s theory of curved cleavage planes.
Example of metamorphosis in a "clay-slate porphyry region". Importance of previous lines of cleavage and stratification in foliation of metamorphosed rock.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | [21 Jan – 11 Feb 1855] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.112) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1633 |
From John Davy 30 January 1855
Summary
Responds to CD’s letter. The ova of Salmonidae exposed to air, if kept moist, will stay alive up to 72 hours.
| Author: | John Davy |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Jan 1855 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.2: 227 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1634 |
| letter | (191) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (140) |
| Blyth, Edward | (12) |
| Watson, H. C. | (7) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
| Davy, John | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (49) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (28) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (17) |
| Fox, W. D. | (12) |
| Gardeners’ Chronicle | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (189) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (32) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (18) |
| Blyth, Edward | (12) |
| Fox, W. D. | (12) |
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: 6 hits
- … to various ends. THE CONCURRENCE OF BOTANISTS: 1855 In which Darwin initiates a long …
- … the letter. DARWIN: 8 April 25 th 1855. My dear [Dr Gray]. I hope you will …
- … ‘Arct. Asia’… GRAY: 9 May 22 nd 1855. Harvard University. My Dear Sir, I …
- … JANUARY 1844 8 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 25 APRIL 1855 9 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, …
- … 24 AUGUST 1856 17 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 8 JUNE 1855 18 C DARWIN TO A …
- … 1857 22 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 18 JULY 1855 23 JD HOOKER TO C DARWIN, …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Biogeography
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Observations aboard the Beagle During his five year journey around the world on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin encountered many different landscapes and an enormous variety of flora and fauna. Some of his most…
Matches: 6 hits
- … chapters 11 and 12 Papers Darwin, Charles. 1855. "Does sea-water kill seeds? …
- … Letter 1661 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker, 7 April 1855 Darwin writes to his good friend, …
- … Letter 1669 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker, 19 April 1855 Darwin rejects Hooker’s suggestion …
- … Letter 1680 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker, 11 May 1855 Darwin congratulates Hooker on his …
- … Letter 1681 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker 15 May 1855 Darwin is upset with the experiment …
- … of Darwin’s work. The first experiment mimicked Darwin’s 1855 work on seeds and salt-water. The …
Schools Gallery: Using Darwin’s letters in the classroom
Summary
English| History| Science English Pupils in Cumbria lead the way Year 9 English pupils at Ulverston Victoria High School spent several weeks studying Darwin’s letters, including comparing sections from Darwin’s ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ to letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 1674 - Charles Darwin to Asa Gray, 25 Apr 1855 Letter 1174 - Charles Darwin to …
Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 1 hits
- … for his botanical work, at Down House since the winter of 1855–6 (see CD’s Classed account book …
Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter
Summary
The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…
Matches: 8 hits
- … naturalists whom he believed deserved recognition. In 1855, he nominated John Obadiah Westwood for …
- … changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855] , ‘it shocks my philosophy to create land …
- … fertility of hybrids, Darwin began in the spring of 1855 a series of hybridising experiments with …
- … of specialists in his cirripede study, so Darwin began in 1855 to establish a comparable, yet even …
- … travelogues that described unusual domestic breeds. Early in 1855, following the advice of William …
- … breeding. As Darwin told Fox in a letter of 27 March [1855] , the object of his work was ‘to view …
- … wish it Throughout the correspondence of 1854 and 1855, the overwhelming impression given …
- … & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But, whether successful or …
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,…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin opens by reminding Harvard …
- … Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled meeting Darwin three …
- … Letter 1720 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, 19 [July 1855] Darwin congratulates Lubbock on …
- … 1751 — Darwin, C. R. to Tegetmeier, W. B., 31 Aug [1855] Darwin thanks W. B. Tegetmeier for …
- … 1788 — Darwin, C. R. to Tegetmeier, W. B., [2 Dec 1855] Darwin raises queries resulting …
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…
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
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: 23 hits
- … Life of Sheridan [T. Moore 1825] Huc’s China [Huc 1855] —read } recom by Erasmus. Watt …
- … Rev d Baden Powel on the Unity of Worlds [Powell 1855]—discusses Vestiges [Chambers] 1847], must …
- … 172] D r . Young’s Life by Peacock [Peacock 1855] praised by Erasmus.— Read …
- … 12. Begin vol. 13. 98 Huc’s “Chinese Empire” [Huc 1855] several Dogs & Cats described. (read) …
- … Impériale et Centrale d'Horticulture de Paris ] vol. 1 1855. (I have read p. 209 to 268.) …
- … recommends me to read Alexander Blain on Intellect [Bain 1855] 102 Eytons work on the …
- … Soc.? Maury sailing directions 18 55 [Maury 1855]. must be studied. Lyell has.— …
- … Horn [Castelnau 1846], or his Botanist [Weddell 1855–7] Brit. Mus. Catalogue. Ungulates …
- … 27. Gmelin Flora Siberica [Gmelin 1747–69] 1855. Wollastons Insecta Maderensia [Wollaston …
- … 1845]. 25. The Angler Piscator D r Davy [J. Davy 1855] Ap 27 th Zoologist [ …
- … ] Vol: 3. 1848–50. [DAR 128: 11] 1855. Sydney Smith life [S. Smith 1855] …
- … (good) Sept Private life of an E. King [Knighton] 1855]. (good) Dec 13 Wabash [Beste …
- … 1851]. May 28. Lyells Elements 5 th . Edit [Lyell 1855] —— 29 th Carpenters …
- … C. Nott and Gliddon 1854] [DAR 128: 14] 1855 Sept. Tegetmeier on …
- … Jan. 10. B. Powell. Unity of Worlds [Powell 1855]. —— Lepsius Auswahl der Wichtigsten …
- … 1856 Jan 21. Huc’s Chinese Empire [Huc 1855] Feb 16 th Pagets Hungary [John Paget …
- … March 20. Nat. Hist. of the Dee [W. Macgillivray 1855] —— Recherches sur l’Agriculture des …
- … [Wollaston 1856] F. Smith on Apidæ [F. Smith 1855] 15 H C. Watson Remarks on Geograph …
- … 1851] —— Heers Os. Paper on Madeira fossils [Heer 1855] —— 19 Von Tschudi Alpine life …
- … 1856] Dec. Young’s life of Peacock [Peacock 1855] Thackeray English Humourists …
- … Dec. Motley’s History of Dutch Republic [Motley 1855] [DAR 128: 24] 1859 …
- … Botanique de France ] Vol s . 1 & 2. 1854 & 1855.— [DAR 128: 27] …
- … the evening meeting of the Royal Institution on 9 February 1855. 91 The note “not …
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…
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: 4 hits
- … Letter 1651 — Darwin to Fox, W.D., 19 March [1855] Darwin writes to his second cousin, …
- … Letter 1686 — Darwin to Fox, W.D., 23 May [1855] In this letter, Darwin writes to his …
- … Letter 1788 — Darwin to Tegetmeier, W.B., [2 Dec 1855] In this letter Darwin writes to …
- … Letter 1794 — Darwin to Layard, E.L., 9 Dec 1855 Darwin writes to Edgard Layard, a …
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: 1 hits
- … Letter 1635 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H., 20 Feb [1855?] …
3.2 Maull and Polyblank photo 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction The rise of professional photographic studios in the mid nineteenth century was a key factor in the shaping of Darwinian iconography, but Darwin’s relationship with these firms was from the start a cautious and sometimes a…
Matches: 4 hits
- … invited for a sitting in their London studio, probably in 1855. Portrait photography of this kind …
- … family or by other sympathisers from the 1860s onwards. The 1855 photograph, at first available only …
- … photographers date of creation 1854 or early 1855 computer-readable date …
- … Polyblank, NPG P106. Letters from Darwin to Hooker, 27 May [1855] (DCP-LETT-1688) and 17 Dec. [1860] …
Hermann Müller
Summary
Hermann (Heinrich Ludwig Hermann) Müller, was born in Mühlberg near Erfurt in 1829. He was the younger brother of Fritz Müller (1822–97). Following the completion of his secondary education at Erfurt in 1848, he studied natural sciences at Halle and Berlin…
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
- … well ’, he fretted at the time. However, by March 1855, he was immersed in the preparatory stages …
- … however, the pigeon house constructed at Down in April 1855 did not look ‘ very ugly ’, the …
- … delight to his young daughter Henrietta . In April 1855, at the same time as Darwin began …
- … While there, he wrote to Wallace. Praising Wallace’s 1855 article on species, and commenting on the …
Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
Matches: 4 hits
- … experiments on plants. Expanding projects set up during 1855 and 1856 (see Correspondence vol. 5 …
- … (see Correspondence vol. 3), he had begun in 1855 a series of researches designed to explain how …
- … of his study was the series of experiments begun in 1855 based on soaking a wide variety of seeds in …
- … in this area, for Charles Lyell thought that Wallace’s 1855 paper implied some kind of belief in …
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
- … and inflammation of the joints (see, for example, Holland 1855, p. 233, and Garrod 1863, pp. 263-4). …
Darwin’s Photographic Portraits
Summary
Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…
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…
