To A. W. Malm [25 October 1874]
Summary
Thanks for a paper on the reproductive organs of fish.
Has always admired AWM’s work on the Pleuronectidae (Bidrag till kännedom af Pleuronektoidernas utveckling och byggnad (Contribution to knowledge of the development and structure of the Pleuronectidae); Malm 1867).
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | August Wilhelm Malm |
| Date: | [25 Oct 1874] |
| Classmark: | Göteborgsposten, 14 November 1874, p. 1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9697F |
Matches: 5 hits
- … translation of large portions of Malm 1867 is in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL. …
- … to knowledge of the development and structure of the Pleuronectidae); Malm 1867 ). …
- … John Murray. 1874. Malm, August Wilhelm. 1867. Bidrag till kännedom af Pleuronektoidernas …
- … Vetenskaps-Akademiens Handlingar 7 (1867–8): (4th paper) 1–28. Malm, August Wilhelm. …
- … development and structure of the Pleuronectidae; Malm 1867 ) in Origin 6th ed. , pp. 186– …
From T. L. Brunton 28 February 1874
Summary
Reports negative results of his experiments on digestion of chlorophyll by Drosera and by animals. [See Insectivorous plants, p. 126.]
Sends references for chondrin.
| Author: | Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 47–8, DAR 160: 340 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9322 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Bibliography British pharmacopœia (1867). London: …
- … Spottiswoode & Co. 1867. Correspondence : The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by …
- … Piderit’s Mimik und Physiognomik ( Piderit 1867 ) in the Darwin Library–CUL ( Marginalia …
- … University Press. 2004. Piderit, Theodor. 1867. Wissenschaftliches System der Mimik und …
- … See, for example, British pharmacopœia (1867) , p. 112. CD reported Brunton’s findings in …
- … 60 in Piderit’s Mimik und Physiognomik (1867) shows a combination which I have frequently …
To James Verrell? 13 September [1874]
Summary
Should like to borrow again a volume which he returned in error. Requests The Quarterly Magazine of the High Wycombe Natural History Society for 1867 and 1868 to locate paper on Utricularia.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | James Verrell |
| Date: | 13 Sept [1874] |
| Classmark: | Gallery of History (dealers) (20 October 1983) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9635A |
From J. D. Hooker 24 March 1874
Summary
"Half an answer" to CD’s query on visit of Sphinx to Hedychium gardnerianum.
Business affairs and family ill health keep him busy.
G. J. Allman will succeed Bentham as President of Linnean Society. Busk has refused.
Huxley is well.
JDH has indoctrinated Sir Stafford Northcote with his merits.
Lyell frail.
Old J. E. Gray goes on publishing.
"Is not [Thomas] Belt splendid!"
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Mar 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 103: 195–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9371 |
From A. S. G. Canning 27 April 1874
Summary
Further particulars on pea-fowl.
| Author: | Albert Stratford George Canning |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Apr 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 43 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9431 |
From R. F. Cooke 12 November 1874
Summary
New edition of Descent just off the press. Murray feels price must be 9s instead of 12s, if it is to sell. This will reduce profit to almost nil.
| Author: | Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Nov 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 442 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9717 |
From John Downing 29 January 1874
Summary
On proportion of sexes in births of cattle; variations in families. Encloses a letter from J. G. Grove on proportions of sexes in animals.
The limitation of inbreeding.
| Author: | John Downing |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Jan 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 90: 79–84 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9259 |
From T. H. Huxley 14 April 1874
Summary
Sends his screed about the brain [for Descent], which he thinks pounds the enemy into a jelly.
Is in good health.
| Author: | Thomas Henry Huxley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Apr 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 103: 198–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9409 |
From H. W. Bates 1 October 1874
Summary
Notes that Mr[s] Barber’s communication [forwarded by CD] will be published because of more striking than usual facts ["Notes on … larva and pupa of Papilio nireus", Trans. R. Entomol. Soc. Lond. (1874): 519–21].
Encloses Thomas Belt’s address.
| Author: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1 Oct 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 92 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9666 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of Pieris brassicae (the cabbage-white butterfly) appeared in Wood 1867 . Thomas Belt . …
To A. P. Fletcher [after 14 March 1874]
Summary
Testifies to the trustworthiness of Charles Pearson.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alexander Pearson Fletcher |
| Date: | [after 14 Mar 1874] |
| Classmark: | DAR 97: C54r |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9362 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … schoolmaster of the national school in Down in 1867. Pearson had applied to be an agent …
To Easton and Anderson 4 May [1874]
Summary
CD’s son Horace wishes to continue at Easton and Anderson’s Works. CD trusts they will not bind him to long hours of work as this would be against medical advice.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Easton and Anderson |
| Date: | 4 May [1874] |
| Classmark: | DAR 97: C55 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9440 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Clark’s home and consulting room from 1867 was at 16 Cavendish Square, London ( ODNB ). …
From B. J. Sulivan 7 February 1874
Summary
The Bishop of Falkland [Waite Hockin Stirling] is coming to visit BJS, who will question him for CD.
Discusses politics; regrets they have been badly beaten by the Tory candidate.
| Author: | Bartholomew James Sulivan |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 300 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9273 |
To T. L. Brunton 4 March 1874
Summary
On digestive powers of Drosera and those of higher animals.
Comments on expression on two halves of human face.
Responds to TLB’s views of serpent- and fire-worship.
Poison of venomous snakes.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 4 Mar 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 159 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9334 |
To Thomas Belt 3 December [1874]
Summary
Invites TB to visit. Wants to make his acquaintance.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Belt |
| Date: | 3 Dec [1874] |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 80 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9742 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … with Belt on natural history since 1867. CD evidently did not meet Belt in December 1874 …
To G. H. Darwin 30 January [1874?]
Summary
Returns and sends comments on Clarke Hawkshaw’s essay ‘The persistence of forms of life in the depths of the sea’.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George Howard Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Jan [1874?] |
| Classmark: | DAR 185: 152 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7466F |
To T. N. Staley 13 January [1874]
Summary
Has read TNS’s article ["On the geography and recent volcanic eruption of the Sandwich Islands", J. R. Geogr. Soc. 38 (1868): 361–9].
Asks for information on decline in population and infanticide in the Sandwich Islands. Seeks corroboration of A. Bishop’s reports.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Nettleship Staley |
| Date: | 13 Jan [1874] |
| Classmark: | The Hawaiian Historical Society (MS B St1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9239 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … a census of the Hawaiian population taken in 1867 in his discussion of the decline of the …
From Daniel Oliver 19 December 1874
Summary
Sends Utricularia montana and Byblis species.
Drosera census numbers 100 species.
Genlisea distinguished from Utricularia.
| Author: | Daniel Oliver |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 Dec 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 112–13 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9765 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Journal of the Linnean Society ( Botany ) 9 (1867): 145–6. CD discussed G. africana in …
From Robert Swinhoe 14 January 1874
Summary
Wants CD to propose him for the Royal Society.
| Author: | Robert Swinhoe |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Jan 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 337 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9242 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Swinhoe began to suffer from paralysis in 1867; his health continued to decline and he …
From Octavius Pickard-Cambridge 17 February 1874
Summary
Criticises sexual selection theory. Supports natural selection.
Gives CD references on proportion of sexes in spiders.
| Author: | Octavius Pickard-Cambridge |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9299 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of exploration in the China seas in 1866 and 1867 ( ODNB ). Pickard-Cambridge noted the …
From J. V. Carus 15 March 1874
Summary
Proposal to collect all of CD’s works in a German edition. Asks CD’s opinion and suggests an outline of volumes.
Lists German sales of various volumes.
| Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 93 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9363 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bronn trans. 1863, Bronn and Carus trans. 1867, Bronn and Carus trans. 1870, Bronn and …
| letter | (29) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (8) |
| Sulivan, B. J. | (3) |
| Bates, H. W. | (1) |
| Brunton, T. L. | (1) |
| Canning, A. S. G. | (1) |
| Belt, Thomas | (1) |
| Brunton, T. L. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (21) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (1) |
| Easton and Anderson | (1) |
| Fletcher, A. P. | (1) |
| Malm, A. W. | (1) |
| Staley, T. N. | (1) |
| Verrell, James | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (29) |
| Sulivan, B. J. | (3) |
| Brunton, T. L. | (2) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (2) |
| Bates, H. W. | (1) |
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 30 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The …
- … publisher in the final week of 1866. It would take all of 1867 to correct proofs, and just when …
- … becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in 1867, as he continued to circulate a list of …
- … transmutation theory. Three important new correspondents in 1867 were Hermann Müller and Anton Dohrn …
- … the New Year’s greeting, ‘may you be eupeptic through 1867 & your friends & the world in …
- … publisher, John Murray, he wrote to Murray on 3 January 1867 , ‘I cannot tell you how sorry I am …
- … for selling a Book’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 January [1867] ). A week later, Darwin had …
- … the additional chapter. In a letter written on 8 February [1867] to his close friend, Joseph …
- … Darwin’s time. The first proof-sheets arrived on 1 March 1867 and the tedious work of correction …
- … . In a letter to his son William dated 27 [March 1867] , he admitted, ‘I fear the book is by no …
- … papers with his first letter to Darwin of 15 March 1867 , although he described some of Alexander …
- … told his publisher, John Murray, in a letter of 4 April [1867] , not to send stereotypes of the …
- … had received other offers, notably one from Vogt in April 1867, to translate the new work. Carus had …
- … will be published’ ( letter from J. V. Carus, 5 April 1867 ). This hint of uncertainty caused …
- … to give up the task’ ( letter to Carl Vogt, 12 April [1867] ). Darwin need not have worried …
- … to the German public ( letter from J. V. Carus, 15 April 1867 ). Darwin may not have fully …
- … in preference to you’ ( letter to J. V. Carus, 18 April [1867] ). Darwin was not disappointed in …
- … the ‘wonderful discovery’ to Darwin on 14 March 1867 . Then, in April, Robert Trail wrote from …
- … in a mottled hybrid ( letter from Robert Trail, 5 April 1867 ). Darwin told his American friend …
- … physiological fact’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). Although he did not succeed in …
- … step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). Darwin’s insecurity persisted, …
- … ferocity’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1867] ). Even when the corrections were …
- … to be introduced’ ( letter to W. S. Dallas, 8 November [1867] ). Dallas resisted the temptation to …
- … as I could wish’ (letter from W. S. Dallas, 20 November 1867). Dallas, like Carus, alerted Darwin to …
- … for information on Fuegian expressions. On 11 January 1867, Sulivan replied , enclosing belated …
- … 27 years old In a letter of 22 February [1867] to Fritz Müller in Brazil, in which …
- … Russel Wallace, who suggested in his response of 11 March [1867] that Darwin send his queries to …
- … ( letter to A. R. Wallace, [12–17] March [1867] ). Darwin’s doggedness in pursuing answers to his …
- … so do not want any more’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). Nevertheless, at some point …
- … in Notes and Queries on China and Japan , 31 August 1867. Another version, possibly derived from …
Darwin’s queries on expression
Summary
When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…
Matches: 27 hits
- … expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to …
- … Barber, Mary E. [after Feb 1867] [Grahamstown, Cape …
- … Bowker, J.H. [10 Dec 1867] [Cape of Good Hope (South …
- … Bowman, William 5 Aug 1867 5 Clifford St, London, …
- … Darwin, Francis 20 June 1867 Unknown? …
- … Erskine, H. N. B. 1 Nov 1867 [Ahmednuggur, Bombay, …
- … Gaika, Christian 7 July 1867 Bedford [Cape of Good …
- … Geach, F.F. June 1867 Johore, Malaysia …
- … Gibbs, George 31 March 1867 Smithsonian Institution, …
- … Gray, Asa 26 March 1867 Cambridge, Massachusetts, …
- … Haast, J.F.J. von 12 May - 2 June 1867 Christchurch, …
- … Haast, J.F.J. von 4 Dec 1867 Christchurch, New …
- … Hagenauer, F.A. [12 Sept 1867] Lake Wellington, …
- … Huxley, H.A. 22 Mar [1867] Abbey Place, London, …
- … Kempson, L.F. 20 June 1867 Penmaenmawr, Conway, …
- … Lubbock, E.F. [1867-8?] Lombard Street, London? …
- … Muller, Fritz 22 Feb [1867] Down, Kent, England …
- … Paget, James 9 July 1867 1 Harewood Place, Hanover …
- … Rothrock, J.T. 31 March 1867 McVeytown [Pennsylvania …
- … Stack, James West 4 Dec 1867 Christchurch, New …
- … Sulivan, B.J. 11 Jan 1867 Bournemouth, England …
- … Sutton, Seth 8 Aug 1867 Zoological Gardens, Regents …
- … Swinhoe, Robert 5 Aug 1867 Amoy, China …
- … Wallace, A. R. 2 March [1867] 9 St. Mark’s Crescent, …
- … Wallace, A. R. 11 March [1867] 9 St. Mark’s Crescent …
- … Weale, J.P.M. 7 July 1867 Bedford, Cape of Good Hope …
- … Weale, J.P.M. [10 Dec 1867] Bedford, Cape of Good …
Cross and self fertilisation
Summary
The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…
Matches: 6 hits
- … a series of experiments, reporting back to Bornet in August 1867 that all but one of the varieties …
- … ( To Fritz Müller, [late December 1866 and] 1 January 1867 ). The following year, his experiments …
- … to the conditions that might affect his results. In March 1867, he told his close friend Joseph …
- … two distinct plants’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1867] ). He noted another factor in a letter to …
- … & so have been rarely crossed’ ( To Asa Gray, 15 April [1867] ). One of these ‘exotics’ was …
- … for part of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). Darwin was beginning to suspect …
A fly on the flower: From Hermann Müller, 23 October 1867
Summary
In March 1867, Hermann Müller, a young teacher of natural sciences at a provincial Realschule (a type of secondary school that emphasised the natural sciences) in Lippstadt in the Prussian province of Westphalia, sent Darwin two papers on the mosses of…
John Lubbock
Summary
John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down House, Down, Kent; the total of one hundred and seventy surviving letters he went on to exchange with Darwin is a large number considering that the two men lived…
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: 7 hits
- … Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to Darwin, [after February 1867] Mary Barber responds to …
- … Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] Darwin asks his niece, …
- … Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to Darwin, [8 August 1867] Sutton, the keeper of the …
- … 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von to Darwin, [4 December 1867] Explorer and geologist Haast …
- … Letter 5585 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [26 July 1867] Darwin praises Henrietta’s …
- … Letter 5403 - Darwin to Carus, J. V. [17 February 1867] Darwin thanks Carus for his …
- … 5410 - Darwin to Muller, J. F. T., [22 February 1867] Darwin thanks Muller for …
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),…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 5605: Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. F. T., 15 Aug [1867] Darwin asks Fritz Müller, a …
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
- … 1865 Letter to J. P. M. Weale, 27 August [1867] Letter from J P. M. Weale, [10 …
Edward Lumb
Summary
Edward Lumb was born in Yorkshire. According to the memoirs of his daughter Anne, Lady Macdonell, he travelled to Buenos Aires aged sixteen with his merchant uncle, Charles Poynton, and after some fortunate enterprises set up in business there. In 1833…
A tale of two bees
Summary
Darwinian evolution theory fundamentally changed the way we understand the environment and even led to the coining of the word 'ecology'. Darwin was fascinated by bees: he devised experiments to study the comb-building technique of honey bees and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … much ahead of his time when, in a letter to Darwin in 1867 , he commented on Edward Wilson’s plan …
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…
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…
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: 6 hits
- … Letter 5457 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Mar 1867 Müller explains how Origin …
- … 5471 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. L. H., 29 Mar [1867] Darwin learns that German botanist …
- … Letter 5481 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 1 Apr [1867] Müller thanks Darwin for the …
- … Letter 5657 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Oct 1867 Müller thanks Darwin for the …
- … Letter 5585 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, H. E., 26 July [1867] Darwin writes to his daughter …
- … Letter 5745 — Barber, M. E. to Darwin, C. R., [after Feb 1867] In this letter, naturalist, …
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: 3 hits
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Controversy
Summary
The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
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: 3 hits
Religion
Summary
Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…
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: 1 hits
- … A GRAY 15 AUGUST 1868 177 TO A GRAY 15 APRIL 1867 178 C DARWIN TO JD …
