To Charles Lyell 1 June [1867]
Summary
Comments on a discussion of humming-birds by the Duke of Argyll [in The reign of law (1867)].
Encloses article by Henry Parker on the Duke’s book [Saturday Rev. 23 (1867): 82–4].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | 1 June [1867] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.328) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5558 |
Matches: 12 hits
- … been found. CD refers to [Parker] 1862 , an article in the Saturday Review discussing [ …
- … G. D. Campbell] 1862 , a review of Orchids by the duke of Argyll, George Douglas …
- … Bibliography [Campbell, George Douglas. ] 1862. [Review of Orchids and other works. ] …
- … of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 5 (1862–6): 264–92. Campbell, George Douglas. 1867. The …
- … the good effects of intercrossing. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862. [Parker, …
- … Henry. ] 1862. The Edinburgh review on the …
- … supernatural. Saturday Review , 15 November 1862, pp. 589–90. Variation : The variation of …
- … 10, letter from J. D. Hooker, [ before 29 December 1862] and n. 4, and letter to J. …
- … D. Hooker, 29 [December 1862] . …
- … No copy of [Parker] 1862 has been found in the Darwin Archive–CUL; there is an annotated …
- … copy of [G. D. Campbell] 1862 in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. No discussion …
- … between CD and Lyell on [G. D. Campbell] 1862 has been found, but see Correspondence …
To J. D. Hooker 8 February [1867]
Summary
On the Duke of Argyll and a review of his Reign of law.
Asa Gray’s theological view of variation. God’s role in formation of organisms; JDH’s view of Providence.
Insular and continental genera.
Owen on continuity and ideal types
and on bones of Mauritius deer.
On man.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 8 Feb [1867] |
Classmark: | DAR 94: 10–13 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5395 |
Matches: 14 hits
- … Society of London 6 (1869): 49–85. [Parker, Henry. ] 1862. The Edinburgh review on the …
- … supernatural. Saturday Review , 15 November 1862, pp. 589–90. Rupke, Nicolaas A. 1994. …
- … J. D. Hooker, 18 [November 1862] , and the letter to …
- … Asa Gray, 23 November [1862] ( Correspondence vol. 10). There is an …
- … annotated copy of [G. D. Campbell] 1862 in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. It …
- … was reviewed in the Saturday Review by CD’s nephew, Henry Parker ( [Parker] 1862 ). …
- … CD sent [Parker] 1862 to Hooker …
- … in late 1862 (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter from J. …
- … D. Hooker, [before 29 December 1862] ; see also ibid. , letter to J. …
- … D. Hooker, 29 [December 1862] , and letter from J. …
- … D. Hooker, [31 December 1862] ). Campbell also published a series of essays in Good …
- … lxxxvi. [Campbell, George Douglas. ] 1862. [Review of Orchids and other works. ] Edinburgh …
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862. Origin : On the origin of species by means …
- … Edinburgh Review ( [G. D. Campbell] 1862 ); he commented on the article in the letter to …
From Charles Kingsley 1 November 1867
Summary
Sends a letter he wrote in 1862 [see 3482].
Author: | Charles Kingsley |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 1 Nov 1867 |
Classmark: | DAR 169: 36, 30 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5664 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Sends a letter he wrote in 1862 [see 3482 ]. …
- … Kingsley, 18 November 1859 ). In early 1862, Kingsley and CD speculated on the ‘genealogy …
- … Correspondence vol. 10, letter from Charles Kingsley, 31 January 1862 , and letter to …
- … Charles Kingsley, 6 February [1862] ). Ditrematous: ‘having the anal and genital orifices …
To Charles Lyell 9 June [1867]
Summary
Discusses hybridisation in cowslip and primrose.
Mentions proposed visit.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | 9 June [1867] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.329) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5566 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … CD had been conducting experiments since 1862 to establish that the primrose ( Primula …
- … his nephew Henry Parker and to [Parker] 1862 . See letter to Charles Lyell, 1 June [1867] …
- … in which Lyell commented on [Parker] 1862 has not been found. CD refers to [Jenkin] …
- … edition. 2 vols. London: John Murray. [Parker, Henry. ] 1862. The Edinburgh review on the …
- … supernatural. Saturday Review , 15 November 1862, pp. 589–90. ‘Specific difference in …
- … pp. 55–75. His notes, dated between 1862 and 1867, are in DAR 157a: 75–7 and DAR 108. See …
From Robert Swinhoe 5 August 1867
Summary
Will do his best to get observations on expression among the Chinese.
Reports observations on hedgehogs collecting fruit with their spines.
Discusses the domestic pig of Formosa, its wild ancestors, and its capacity to breed with other races.
Author: | Robert Swinhoe |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Aug 1867 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 330 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5598 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … flying squirrels native to Formosa ( Swinhoe 1862 , pp. 358–9). He also described the jay …
- … action plan. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. Swinhoe, Robert. 1862. On the mammals of the island …
- … of Formosa (China). [Read 9 December 1862. ] Proceedings …
- … of the Zoological Society of London (1862): 347–65. Swinhoe, Robert. 1863a. The …
- … pig as Porcula taivana (see Swinhoe 1862 , pp. 360–1), but later amended his description, …
- … China. It was opened to foreign trade in 1862 ( Columbia gazetteer of the world ). Swinhoe …
- … the Himalayan black bear (see Swinhoe 1862 , pp. 351–2), but after examining a number of …
From John Murray 19 September [1867]
Summary
Sends CD cheque for £250, two-thirds of the profits on the sale of 700 copies of Origin, 4th ed.
Hopes he has found a suitable indexer for Variation.
Author: | John Murray |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 19 Sept [1867] |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 350, 524 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5630 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1862. Origin : On the origin of species by means …
- … I will ask for a sample for your approval Chas Darwin Esq Dr Darwin on Orchids Cr 1862 …
- … 1862 June To Balance Deficiency 45 5 1 June By 685 on hand Sept " Electros 3 6 – 4 …
- … from John Murray, [1 July – 23 August 1862] ). After receiving the statement for Orchids , …
- … 10, letter to John Murray, 24 August [1862] and n. 4). Trade purchasers received one free …
From Francis Elliott Kitchener 9 November 1867
Summary
Sends Swiss Aquilegia flowers in which insects have eaten away the spurs.
Suggests fetid smell of Stapelia attracts carrion flies.
Author: | Francis Elliott Kitchener |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 9 Nov 1867 |
Classmark: | DAR 169: 39 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5674 |
From Edward Blyth 19 February 1867
Summary
Encloses memorandum on Origin [1866]
discussing mimicry in mammals and birds,
abnormal habits shown by birds,
behaviour of cuckoos,
and analogies existing between mammals of the same geographical region.
Speculates on possible lines of development linking groups of mammals.
[CD’s notes on the verso of the letter are for his reply.]
Author: | Edward Blyth |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 19 Feb 1867 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 209, 209/1 & 2, DAR 47: 190, 190a, DAR 80: B99–99a, DAR 205.11: 138, DAR 48: A75 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5405 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … John Murray. 1845. Layard, Edgar Leopold. 1862. Notes on the sea-birds observed during a …
- … Zealand ( Ocydromus australis ), vide ‘Ibis’, 1862, p. 103. Some of the New Zealand birds …
- … of Bengal , Calcutta, India from 1841 to 1862 ( DNB ). For more on Blyth’s career, see …
- … was first issued in twenty-five parts from 1862 to 1873; part 4, issued by 1865, included …
- … an article in Ibis ( J. F. J. von Haast 1862 ); Julius von Haast described the weka ( …
- … caught by a snare ( J. F. J. von Haast 1862 , pp. 105, 106). CD discussed the acquired …
- … diving behaviour as described in Layard 1862 ; the scientific name is now Daption capense. …
To the Linnean Society 22 February [1867]
Summary
Sends J. P. M. Weale’s paper on Bonatea for consideration by Linnean Society [J. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 10 (1869): 470–6].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Linnean Society |
Date: | 22 Feb [1867] |
Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (SP.1249) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5411 |
From Fritz Müller 4 March 1867
Summary
Reports observations on fertility of orchids he has self-pollinated and crossed with pollen of other species.
Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 4 Mar 1867 |
Classmark: | DAR 142: 102 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5429 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Joseph Dalton Hooker (Bentham and Hooker 1862 –83), which was published in seven parts. …
- … The first part appeared in 1862, the second in 1865. CD reported sending the volumes in …
- … and Schizolobium , see Bentham and Hooker 1862 –83, 1: 181, 569. See Correspondence vol. …
- … of the Linnean Society ( Botany ) 6 (1862): 77–96. [ Collected papers 2: 45–63. ] …
From A. R. Wallace 1 October [1867]
Summary
Informs CD of his reply to Argyll and the North British Review criticisms [in "Creation by law", Q. J. Sci. 4 (1867): 471–88]. Cites "the predicted Madagascar moth" and Angraecum sesquipedale.
Birth of Herbert Spencer Wallace.
Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 1 Oct [1867] |
Classmark: | DAR 106: B43–4 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5637 |
To E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung 22 November [1867]
Summary
Encloses list of people to whom he would like presentation copies of the German edition of Variation sent.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung |
Date: | 22 Nov [1867] |
Classmark: | Württembergische Landesbibliothek, Stuttgart (Cod. hist. 4o 333a. No 77, 1) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5694 |
From Carl Vogt 8 April 1867
Summary
Asks whether he may have right to translate Variation into German.
Author: | Carl Vogt |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 Apr 1867 |
Classmark: | DAR 180: 10 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5495 |
To Ludwig Rütimeyer 4 May [1867]
Summary
Thanks LR for sending his works.
Correcting proofs of Variation.
Chapter on pigs and cattle derived mostly from LR’s work.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Karl Ludwig (Ludwig) Rütimeyer |
Date: | 4 May [1867] |
Classmark: | Universitätsbibliothek Basel, Handschriften (G IV 91, 4) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5527 |
To William Erasmus Darwin 27 [March 1867]
Summary
Thanks WED for a present.
Discusses the Duke of Argyll’s Reign of law [1867].
Is busy revising proofs [of Variation].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | 27 [Mar 1867] |
Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 121 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5466 |
To Hermann Müller 16 August [1867]
Summary
Made aware by Asa Gray of error with respect to Cypripedium. Does not doubt it is self-fertilised.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Heinrich Ludwig Hermann (Hermann) Müller |
Date: | 16 Aug [1867] |
Classmark: | DAR 146: 429; Krause 1884, p. 17 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5608 |
To Alfred Newton 4 March [1867]
Summary
Thanks for information about the dotterel.
CD had ascertained by dissection that the female of the carrion-hawk of the Falkland Islands is very much brighter coloured than the male. Has inquired about its nidification. Mentions other instances of female birds that are brighter and more beautiful than the males and suggests causes for this anomaly.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Alfred Newton |
Date: | 4 Mar [1867] |
Classmark: | DAR 185: 89 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5430 |
From Asa Gray to J. D. Hooker [after 6 July 1867]
Summary
Sends W. M. Canby’s observations on the carnivorous powers of Dionaea. [See Insectivorous plants, pp. 301, 310, 313.]
Author: | Asa Gray |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [after 6 July 1867] |
Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 16–17 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5580 |
From Fritz Müller 1 January 1867
Summary
Describes his experiments in fertilising Oncidium flexuosum and comparison with Notylia.
Has been examining Catasetum.
Encloses seeds of two species of Gesneria and describes hairs in the seed capsule. Hairs in other plants seem to have a different function.
Starting tomorrow for a botanical excursion on the Continent.
Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 1 Jan 1867 |
Classmark: | Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: 104–9; DAR 157a: 104 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5344A |
From Francis Walker 9 December 1867
Summary
The horns and spines of homopterous insects do not vary between sexes. Sexual differences in Blattidae.
Author: | Francis Walker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 9 Dec 1867 |
Classmark: | DAR 82: A48–9 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5718 |
letter | (57) |
Darwin, C. R. | (19) |
Hooker, J. D. | (8) |
Müller, Fritz | (3) |
Blyth, Edward | (2) |
Murray, John (b) | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (37) |
Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
Lyell, Charles | (3) |
Müller, Fritz | (3) |
Kingsley, Charles | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (56) |
Hooker, J. D. | (11) |
Müller, Fritz | (6) |
Kingsley, Charles | (3) |
Lyell, Charles | (3) |

Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 28 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
- … be so’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 and] 20 November [1862] ). I have not the least …
- … him from this view ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 [January 1862] ): 'no doubt you are right …
- … Huxley replied ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 January 1862 ): 'I entertain no doubt that …
- … but continued ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 18 December [1862] ): 'you say the answer to …
- … but complained ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 28 December [1862] ): 'To get the degree of …
- … him the commission ( see letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ). Darwin was altogether taken …
- … is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). Two sexual forms: …
- … with his study of Primula and escalated throughout 1862 as he searched for other cases of …
- … 1861, and was published in the society’s journal in March 1862. The paper described the two …
- … in almost daily’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). In a postscript, he mentioned his work …
- … telling Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 March [1862] ): ‘I am nearly sure that daylight is …
- … great’, he told Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 10–20 June [1862] ), ‘I have lately counted one by one …
- … labour over them’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 [October 1862] ; see ML 2: 292–3). Other …
- … of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), and experimenting to test his …
- … sets of experiments’ ( letter to M. T. Masters, 24 July [1862] ). The materials that Darwin …
- … case he determined to experiment on Linum in 1862. Soon he was enthralled, especially by the …
- … be generically distinct’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 14 July [1862] ). The case was so good that he …
- … Linum ‘at once’ ( letter to John Scott, 11 December [1862] ), writing up his experiments in …
- … complex case—’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 29 [July 1862] ). The three forms had different lengths …
- … who exclaimed to Gray ( letter to Asa Gray, 9 August [1862] ), ‘I am almost stark staring mad over …
- … the Linnean Society ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 6 October [1862] ). However, it was not until 1864 …
- … pleasure to ride’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 January [1862] ). But he worried about the resulting …
- … the Book will sell’ ( letter to John Murray, 9 [February 1862] ). To his son, William, his …
- … every flower’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 8 June [1862] ). I never before felt half so …
- … he told Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 [May 1862] ). But he did not have long to wait. ‘It is …
- … it ‘most valuable’ (letter from George Bentham, 15 May 1862). Orchids was published on 15 May, …
- … all, ‘a success’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 30 [June 1862] ). a flank-movement on the …

Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 5 hits
- … In March 1862, Heinrich Georg Bronn wrote to Darwin stating his intention to prepare a …
- … edition (see letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 March 1862] ). Since the publication of the …
- … of importance’ (see letter to H. G. Bronn, 11 March [1862] ). Darwin had sent Bronn some of these …
- … in the new edition; in his letter to Bronn of 25 April [1862 ], he mentioned that he was sending …
- … from E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 11 July 1862 ). (No American edition incorporating …
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: 8 hits
- … in the mud. BEGINNING OF WAR IN AMERICA: 1861-1862 In which the start of the American …
- … cause. Tension. THE DARWIN BOYS: 1862 In which Darwin reports one …
- … 1856 33 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 14 MARCH 1862 34 JD HOOKER TO C DARWIN, …
- … 1861 115 A GRAY TO CHARLES WRIGHT, 17 APRIL 1862 116 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH 7 MAY …
- … 10 JUNE 1861 121 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 MARCH 1862 122 JD HOOKER TO C …
- … 16 DEC 1861 124 A GRAY TO ENGELMANN, 20 FEB 1862 125 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, 31 …
- … 7 JULY 1863 152 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, DECEMBER 1862 153 JD HOOKER TO C …
- … 1861 163 C Darwin TO A Gray, 16 OCTOBER 1862 164 C Darwin TO ASA GRAY, …

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: 6 hits
- … Towards the end of 1862, Darwin resolved to build a small hothouse at Down House, for …
- … vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1862] , and volume 10, letter to Thomas Rivers, …
- … a construction suitable for tropical plants. In 1861 and 1862, while preparing Orchids , he was …
- … vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] and n. 13). Initially, Darwin purchased for …
- … over the previous two years. In a letter of 24 December [1862] ( Correspondence vol. 10) …
- … Kent ( Post Office directory of the six home counties 1862). 3. Asclepias curassavica. …
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
- … Lubbock, after making a mistake in his research on bees in 1862. …

Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…

Clémence Auguste Royer
Summary
Getting Origin translated into French was harder than Darwin had expected. The first translator he approached, Madame Belloc, turned him down on the grounds that the content was ‘too scientific‘, and then in 1860 the French political exile Pierre…
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…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October 1862] Henrietta Darwin provides …
- … Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862] Darwin tells American naturalist Asa …
- … 3681 - Wedgwood, M. S. to Darwin, [before 4 August 1862] Darwin’s niece, Margaret, …
- … lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March, 1862 - DAR 219.1:49) Emma Darwin …
- … - Darwin to Wedgwood, K. E. S, M. S. & L. C., [4 August 1862] Darwin thanks his “angel …

Floral Dimorphism
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…

Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 1 October [1861] To Charles Lyell, 1 April [1862] To Charles Lyell, 14 October …

Have you read the one about....
Summary
... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …

Orchids
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…
Matches: 4 hits
- … SOURCES Books Darwin, Charles 1862. On the various contrivances by which …
- … 3421 —Charles Darwin to Joseph Dalton Hooker 30 January 1862 Darwin tells Hooker about a …
- … Letter 3662 —Charles Darwin to Asa Gray 23-4 July 1862 Darwin tells Asa Gray, a professor …
- … Darwin’s work with orchids and Chapter 1 of Darwin’s 1862 book On the various …

Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 6 hits
- … briefly mentioned in his Primula paper. In July 1862, Darwin explained to Gray, ‘ I have …
- … of the genus Linum ’, between 11 and 21 December 1862. The paper was read at a meeting of the …
- … to Lythrum , a genus that he had begun researching in 1862 after Hooker had supplied him with …
- … of Lythrum he had been working on since late July 1862. He told Oliver that, ‘ as each form has …
- … of the crossing experiments immediately, but by October 1862, he admitted to Hooker, ‘ I am rather …
- … 117: 50). Darwin released William from counting in November 1862, telling him, ‘ Next year I shall …

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…

Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…
Matches: 4 hits
- … on Verbascum. Darwin had suggested to Scott in 1862, when Scott was working at the Royal Botanic …
- … vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). Darwin had already written to Hooker of …
- … disturbing the serenity of the Christian world’ (Brewster 1862, p. 3). John Hutton Balfour, though …
- … vol. 10, letter from J. H. Balfour, 14 January 1862 ). According to Hooker, Balfour’s prejudice …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 1 hits
- … [1859] Letter to Charles Kingsley, 6 February [1862] Letter from F. W. Farrar, …

Darwin and Fatherhood
Summary
Charles Darwin married Emma Wedgwood in 1839 and over the next seventeen years the couple had ten children. It is often assumed that Darwin was an exceptional Victorian father. But how extraordinary was he? The Correspondence Project allows an unusually…

Species and varieties
Summary
On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing as ‘species’ must therefore exist and be subject to description. But the title continues, …or…
Women as a scientific audience
Summary
Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March 1862 - DAR 219.1:49) Emma Darwin …

Sexual selection
Summary
Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that (other than in the reproductive organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females of the same species. So what…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the Lords' ( to J. D. Hooker, 25 [and 26] January [1862] ) In 1869, Darwin …