From W. K. Parker 18 January 1878
Summary
Sorry he was out when CD called.
| Author: | William Kitchen Parker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Jan 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 174: 20 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10077 |
From W. C. Marshall 25 September [1878]
Summary
Observations on insectivorous plants.
| Author: | William Cecil (Bill) Marshall |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 25 Sept [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 86: B1–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10173 |
From F. M. Balfour [c. 31 January 1878?]
Summary
His brother Cecil is reading Coral reefs, and, as his business involves the Keeling Islands and Torres Straits, he offers to make any observations CD might want.
| Author: | Francis Maitland Balfour |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [c. 31 Jan 1878?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 23 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10332 |
To Milan Radovanović [before 12 February 1878]
Summary
Thanks for congratulations on his coming birthday. Has nothing special to say as a preface to S[erbian] edition [of Origin (1878)], except to hope it is in every way successful.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Milan Marinković (Milan) Radovanović |
| Date: | [before 12 Feb 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 202: 79 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10827 |
From R. T. Clarke 6 February [1878]
Summary
Sends curious, coloured pea seeds.
| Author: | Richard Trevor Clarke |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Feb [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 169 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10832 |
To G. J. Romanes 15 April [1878]
Summary
Regrets that GJR was passed over for membership in Royal Society. Discusses criteria applied by Council.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George John Romanes |
| Date: | 15 Apr [1878] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.509) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10929 |
From Thomas Meehan 28 April [1878]
Summary
Sends CD Dr Wood’s lecture on insectivorous plants.
Had no intention of antagonising CD with his observations on Linum; was anxious to account for its apparently different behaviour.
| Author: | Thomas Meehan |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Apr [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 111 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10944 |
To W. C. Marshall 27 September [1878]
Summary
Thanks WCM for plant.
Mentions "your new room" at Down.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Cecil (Bill) Marshall |
| Date: | 27 Sept [1878] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11153 |
From George Henslow [c. 20 February 1878]
Summary
Discusses various authors’ interpretations of the structure of the embryo of grasses.
| Author: | George Henslow |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [c. 20 Feb 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 209.4: 431 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11219 |
From J. D. Hooker [c. 20 February 1878]
Summary
Discusses the structure of grass embryos; states differing theories regarding which part of the seed corresponds to the cotyledon.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [c. 20 Feb 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 209.4: 432 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11220 |
To Francis Darwin [1878?]
Summary
Forwards an unspecified work for FD to read.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | [1878?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 21 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11302 |
To Francis Darwin 5 [June 1878]
Summary
Sends letter and seeds from [F. J. Cohn].
Is working too hard.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 5 [June 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 22 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11303 |
From Ellen Harrison to Emma Darwin [January 1878]
Summary
On an elephant’s crying when foot was operated on.
| Author: | Ellen Harrison |
| Addressee: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
| Date: | [Jan 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 108 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11304 |
To Raphael Meldola 1 January [1878]
Summary
Good article by Fritz Müller in Kosmos supporting August Weismann’s views on caterpillars.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Raphael Meldola |
| Date: | 1 Jan [1878] |
| Classmark: | Oxford University Museum of Natural History (Hope Entomological Collections 1350: Hope/Westwood Archive, Darwin folder) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11305 |
To Édouard Heckel 1 January 1878
Summary
Pleased EH is translating Forms of flowers. Agrees "cowslip" and "oxlip" ought to be translated by their scientific names.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Édouard Marie (Édouard) Heckel |
| Date: | 1 Jan 1878 |
| Classmark: | Heritage Auctions (dealers) (13 and 14 December 2011, lot 37038) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11306 |
To H. D. Garrison [1878]
Summary
Regrets he was not at home when HDG called.
HDG’s observations on the evolution of the human ear are well worth consideration.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Herod Dailey Garrison |
| Date: | [1878] |
| Classmark: | Felter 1902, p. 124 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11306F |
To Hermann Müller 1 January [1878]
Summary
Thanks HM for his review [of Forms of flowers, Kosmos 2 (1877–8): 286].
Thinks HM’s previous article was very important [Kosmos 2 (1877–8): 128–40]. CD will "heartily rejoice" if HM has explained the steps by which Rhamnus and Valeriana have been rendered dioecious.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Heinrich Ludwig Hermann (Hermann) Müller |
| Date: | 1 Jan [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 146: 438 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11307 |
From Raphael Meldola 2 January [1878]
Summary
Wishes to borrow third part of Fritz Müller’s article on sexual selection in butterflies [Kosmos 2 (1877–8): 218–24].
Is forwarding material on stridulation, including Prof. Wood-Mason’s paper ["Note on Mygale stridulans", Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. Lond. (1877): 281–2], which should interest CD.
| Author: | Raphael Meldola |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 2 Jan [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 121 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11308 |
To ? 2 January 1878
Summary
Thanks correspondent for note and specimen; they will be of use in new edition of Forms of flowers.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Unidentified |
| Date: | 2 Jan 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 249: 126 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11308A |
To Raphael Meldola 3 January 1878
Summary
Is dispatching December number of Kosmos.
Will read the discussion on stridulation that RM mentioned.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Raphael Meldola |
| Date: | 3 Jan 1878 |
| Classmark: | Oxford University Museum of Natural History (Hope Entomological Collections 1350: Hope/Westwood Archive, Darwin folder) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11309 |
| letter | (575) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (300) |
| Darwin, Francis | (24) |
| Torbitt, James | (16) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (12) |
| Meldola, Raphael | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (258) |
| Darwin, Francis | (34) |
| Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (23) |
| Meldola, Raphael | (17) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (17) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (558) |
| Darwin, Francis | (58) |
| Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (30) |
| Meldola, Raphael | (27) |
| Torbitt, James | (26) |
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: 29 hits
- … is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his …
- … scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). Writing to Ernst Haeckel on …
- … plants.’ Movement in plants In the spring of 1878, Darwin started to focus on the …
- … come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). While Darwin was studying the …
- … of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] ). Having found plants responsive to …
- … at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). Son abroad Darwin’s …
- … kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June [1878] ). While Francis was away, Darwin …
- … work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] ). Two weeks later he wrote: ‘I …
- … to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). It is unclear why the …
- … reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July 1878] ): ‘The oats have only just begun to …
- … Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July 1878] ), ‘a strong horizontal axis …
- … rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] ). One day Francis observed that the …
- … out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July 1878] ). Sachs’s confidence was apparently …
- … him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878] ). ‘Sachs doesn’t consider that …
- … all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 July 1878] ). Babies and animals …
- … he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). Darwin had of course observed …
- … have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). On 12 September , Darwin …
- … will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). Darwin remarked that a monkey …
- … in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September [1878] ). More remarkable cases of …
- … of a thieving wasp’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 21 June 1878 ). An inspiration In …
- … ( letter from J.-B. Dumas and Joseph Bertrand, 5 August 1878 ). Despite his many botanical …
- … to me quite ridiculous’ ( letter to John Price, 2 April [1878] ). When a wealthy businessman tried …
- … ( letter from Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár, 28 April 1878 ). ‘What a wonderful change in the …
- … The Swiss botanist Arnold Dodel-Port announced on 12 June 1878 the first issue of an atlas with …
- … come together’ ( letter from Arnold Dodel-Port, 18 June 1878 ). In countries where …
- … are without you’ (letters from Carl Kraus, [31?] January 1878 and 10 February 1878 ). Darwin …
- … been school-boys’ ( letter to Karl von Scherzer, 1 April 1878 ). More critics Closer …
- … matter’ ( letter from H. N. Ridley, [before 28 November 1878] ). Darwin received a copy of the …
- … care of himself ’ ( letter from J. B. Innes, 1 December 1878 ). Darwin did not think the Oxford …
Darwn's letters from 1878 online
Summary
Investigating the movements and 'sleep' of plants, being entertained by the mental faculties of his young grandson Bernard, finally elected a corresponding member of the French Académie des sciences, trying to secure a government grant to support…
Power of movement in plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Family experiments Darwin was an active and engaged father during his children's youth, involving them in his experiments and even occasionally using them as observational subjects. When his children…
Photograph album of German and Austrian scientists
Summary
The album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil Rade, and contained 165 portraits of German and Austrian scientists. The work was lavishly produced and bound in blue velvet with metal embossing. Its ornate…
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
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…
Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Leonard Darwin to George Darwin, 8 February [1878] Darwin’s youngest son, Leonard (Lenny), …
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
- … become her partner for the next 25 years, until his death in 1878. Lewes was already married but …
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. …
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
- … commissions before dying from a heart attack on 21 August 1878. Conrad Martens' …
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. …
Florence Caroline Dixie
Summary
On October 29th 1880, Lady Florence Dixie wrote a letter to Charles Darwin from her home in the Scottish Borders; “Whilst reading the other day your very interesting account of A Naturalist’s Voyage round the world,” she said, “I came across a passage…of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … in 1875 had two sons, George and Albert, born in 1876 and 1878 respectively. …
'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
- … 1854 to 1861, in 1863 and 1864, from 1871 to 1875, and in 1878 and 1880 (CD’s Classed account books …
Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Life of Erasmus Darwin
Summary
The Life of Erasmus Darwin (1879) was a curious departure for Darwin. It was intended as a biographical note to accompany an essay on Erasmus's scientific work by the German writer Ernst Krause. But Darwin became immersed in his grandfather's…
Matches: 1 hits
- … had struggled to understand Butler's Life and Habit (1878), which seemed to attribute …
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: 1 hits
- … longer chapter on Instinct’, Darwin told Romanes in June 1878, ‘ I have never had time to work it …
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 1 hits
- … anyone who wrote a lot, but the novelty soon wore off and in 1878 the machine was given away. …
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
- … 2 Origin , p. 83. 3 Origin , pp. 187–8. This phrase and the following, longer …
Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 1 hits
- … M. M. Radovanović, 17 September 1874 ), which appeared in 1878. Books and articles were …
