From Charles Boner [December 1869 – early January 1870]
Summary
In answer to CD’s queries, relates further details about feral sheep: they are sterile when wild, but can become tame again.
| Author: | Charles Boner |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Dec 1869 – early Jan 1870] |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 237 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7017 |
From Charles Layton 23 December 1869
Summary
Has received letter from Appleton’s that they agree to reprint from the latest edition of the Origin [5th English] and will add corrections sent by CD.
They wish also to receive early sheets of new book [Descent] on which they will pay £10.
Will send cheque for sales of Origin, based on older agreement between Appleton’s and Asa Gray to pay CD 5%.
| Author: | Charles James (Charles) Layton; D. Appleton & Co |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 159: 85 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7033 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … with additions and corrections’ in 1870 ( Origin 2d US ed. ). See letter to Charles …
- … s statement on sales of Origin by February 1870, see Correspondence vol. 18, letter from …
- … D. Appleton & Co. to Asa Gray, 1 February 1870 . …
- … On 12 October 1870, CD recorded receiving a cheque from Layton for the ‘sale of Origin in …
- … and corrections. New York: D. Appleton. 1870. Origin : On the origin of species by means …
From Fritz Müller 18 December 1869
Summary
Discusses dimorphic and trimorphic plants; mentions especially Rubiaceae and a dimorphic monocotyledon.
Notes observations on the monstrous male flowers of Begonia,
and on self-sterile plants.
| Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 18 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 109: B125–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7029 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … has not been found ( ibid. , ,letter to J. J. Weir, 17 March [1870] ). Müller mentioned …
- … Cassia in his letter of 29 March 1870 ( Correspondence vol. 18). CD also refers to Joseph …
- … 7. See letter to Fritz Müller, 12 May 1870 ( Correspondence vol. 18). John Jenner Weir …
- … letter from J. J. Weir, 17 March 1870) . In his reply to Weir, CD quoted a similar case …
To Anton Dohrn 25 December 1869
Summary
Thanks AD for his work. CD regrets he is not a better German scholar, but he must endeavour to understand AD’s views.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Felix Anton (Anton) Dohrn |
| Date: | 25 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München (Ana 525. Ba 696) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7035 |
From John Scott 21 December 1869
Summary
Observations on expression and variation in Asian peoples: when colour of beard and hair differ, beard is always lighter. Differences in swimming strokes. Polydactylism.
Has just sent Hooker a paper on Sikkim tree-ferns [Trans. Linn. Soc. Lond. 30 (1875): 1–44, read 1870].
Has had fever since the end of the rains.
| Author: | John Scott |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 85: A106–6a |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7030 |
From A. R. Wallace 4 December [1869]
Summary
Inquires about arrangements for the German translation and publication of their original Linnean Society papers [Collected papers 2: 3–19].
ARW thinks he has hit upon a solution to problem of geological time.
| Author: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Dec [1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 106: B88–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7019 |
From G. H. Darwin [2 December 1869]
Summary
Discusses some calculations which he is doing for CD on the ratios of red and brown colouring in some animals.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [2 Dec 1869] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 17 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7158 |
From J. L. Sinclair 31 December 1869
Summary
Would like CD’s opinion on his "theory of organic disturbance" and his "law of organic combination"; hopes CD might notice them in the Academy.
Writes of his unfortunate circumstances.
| Author: | James Leask Sinclair |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 31 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 173 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7039 |
To A. R. Wallace 5 December [1869]
Summary
Further comments on arrangements for German translation of their joint paper.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred Russel Wallace |
| Date: | 5 Dec [1869] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 46434: 194–5) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7020 |
From Anton Dohrn 30 December 1869
Summary
He has gone through the whole embryology of the Crustacea and has arrived at a pretty well-established genealogy of the whole class; has even tried to write a history of the whole tribe. Finds he cannot adopt the old separation of Orders in the Class; the limits between them are indistinct.
Would like to study embryology of Limulus. Asks CD’s help in obtaining a female specimen.
Outlines his proposal to establish a marine zoological station.
| Author: | Felix Anton (Anton) Dohrn |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 204 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7038 |
From Francis Galton 11 December 1869
Summary
Asks CD’s advice on procuring rabbits for experiments [to test Pangenesis by transfusing alien blood into does and breeding from them].
| Author: | Francis Galton |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 105: 1–2 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7026 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of the Royal Society of London 19 (1870–1): 393–410. Marginalia : Charles Darwin’s …
From J. T. Moggridge 12 December 1869
Summary
Sends seeds of Lathyrus and suggests an advantage of climbing plants is to shed their seeds in places secure from animals.
Contrary to F. Delpino, in JTM’s experience Ophrys aranifera is not sterile. However, seed germination is poor.
In a densely overgrown plot Convolvulus sabatius, not normally a twiner, becomes one.
Continues his extensive study on variability in Arbutus, and speculates on selection in fruit shape.
| Author: | John Traherne Moggridge |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Dec 1869 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 214 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7027 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 265–352; 12 (1869): 179–233; 13 (1870): 167–205; 17 (1874): 266–407. ] ‘Fertilization of …
| letter | (12) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Boner, Charles | (1) |
| D. Appleton & Co | (1) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (1) |
| Dohrn, Anton | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (10) |
| Dohrn, Anton | (1) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (12) |
| Dohrn, Anton | (2) |
| Wallace, A. R. | (2) |
| Boner, Charles | (1) |
| D. Appleton & Co | (1) |
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
Matches: 29 hits
- … The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The …
- … machine’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December [1870] ). Finishing Descent; …
- … some weeks’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ). Darwin was still working hard on …
- … I shall be’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). She had previously read proof-sheets …
- … shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Henrietta disagreed: ‘Certainly …
- … of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February 1870] ). Darwin was also encouraged …
- … sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] ). Cobbe accused Darwin of smiling in …
- … great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870?] ). Humans as animals: ears …
- … [1868] ; this volume, letter to Thomas Woolner, 10 March [1870] ). Darwin included Woolner’s …
- … findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March 1870 ). Indeed, Darwin noted the same …
- … bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). Researching expression: …
- … spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 ). Keen for more evidence of …
- … hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] ). Darwin made a similar request of …
- … not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] ). Darwin’s queries were part …
- … of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). He also wrote to a leading Dutch …
- … on this subject’ ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). Human evolution: debates and …
- … more fully in a collection of essays published in April 1870 (Wallace 1870a). Wallace wrote to …
- … naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). Despite their increasing …
- … in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). Darwin alluded here to the …
- … No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). Darwin very rarely used the …
- … never write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). St George Jackson Mivart …
- … to answer objectors’ ( letter to W. H. Flower, 25 March [1870] ). In his letters to Mivart, Darwin …
- … on the Primates’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 23 April [1870] ). He also tried to recruit Mivart’s …
- … lump of granite’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 22 April 1870 ). Mivart hinted that his …
- … his “origin” ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 25 April 1870 ). In his critical essays (later revised …
- … Charles Darwin et ses précurseurs français (Quatrefages 1870), that gave a detailed account, as …
- … many others’ ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 28 May [1870] ). Quatrefages had …
- … discord’ ( letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 30 March 1870 ). In proposing Darwin for election, …
- … them’ ( letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 18 July 1870 ). The assertion had been made by Emile …
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: 12 hits
- … Brooke, C.A.J. 30 Nov 1870 Sarawak, Borneo …
- … Crichton-Browne, James 15 March 1870 West Riding …
- … Crichton-Browne, James 18 March 1870 Down, Kent, …
- … Donders, F.C. 27 May 1870 Utrecht, Netherlands …
- … Forbes, David 13 June 1870 Portman Square, London W. …
- … Nicol, Patrick 13 May 1870 Sussex Lunatic Asylum, …
- … Reade, Winwood W. [c.8 or 9 Apr 1870] Accra, West …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 4 June 1870 Lagos, Africa …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 3 Sept 1870 Conservative Club, St …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 9 Nov 1870 11 St Mary Abbot's …
- … Weale, J.P.M. [25 May 1870] Bedford, Cape of Good …
- … Weir, J.J. 27 June 1870 Blackheath, London, England …
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: 4 hits
- … Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] Darwin seeks Henrietta’s …
- … Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28 September 1870] Written shortly before …
- … Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, J., [29 September 1870] Darwin asks Murray to …
- … Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to Darwin, [29 April 1870] George Cupples tells Darwin about a …
Francis Darwin
Summary
Known to his family as ‘Frank’, Charles Darwin’s seventh child himself became a distinguished scientist. He was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, initially studying mathematics, but then transferring to natural sciences. Francis completed…
Jane Gray
Summary
Jane Loring Gray, the daughter of a Boston lawyer, married the Harvard botanist Asa Gray in 1848 and evidence suggests that she took an active interest in the scientific pursuits of her husband and his friends. Although she is only known to have…
Matches: 1 hits
- … behaviour of her dog (letter from J. L. Gray, 14 February 1870 ), she also passed on information …
Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … on my mind’ ( letter to W. T. Preyer, 17 February [1870 ])) that without earthworms aerating the …
Francis Galton
Summary
Galton was a naturalist, statistician, and evolutionary theorist. He was a second cousin of Darwin’s, having descended from his grandfather, Erasmus. Born in Birmingham in 1822, Galton studied medicine at King’s College, London, and also read mathematics…
Matches: 1 hits
- … more litters & no happy results”, he wrote on 26 April 1870 . In the following year, Galton …
Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters
Summary
On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of Descent (letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Audio of more …
Darwin and Gender Projects by Harvard Students
Summary
Working in collaboration with Professor Sarah Richardson and Dr Myrna Perez, Darwin Correspondence Project staff developed a customised set of 'Darwin and Gender' themed resources for a course on Gender, Sex and Evolution first taught at Harvard…
Matches: 1 hits
- … grateful I shall be.”(Letter to Darwin, H. E., [8 Feb 1870] ) Although Miranda acknowledges that …
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…
Experimenting with emotions
Summary
Darwin’s interest in emotions can be traced as far back as the Beagle voyage. He was fascinated by the sounds and gestures of the peoples of Tierra del Fuego. On his return, he started recording observations in a set of notebooks, later labelled '…
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…
Matches: 3 hits
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … you owe any more … Darwin to his son Francis, 1870. …
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…
3.16 Oscar Rejlander, photos
Summary
< Back to Introduction Darwin’s plans for the illustration of his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born painter and photographer, Oscar Gustaf Rejlander. Rejlander gave Darwin the notes that he had…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Photograph: Authenticity, Science and the Periodical Press, 1870 – 1890 (London and New York: …
Photograph album of Dutch admirers
Summary
Darwin received the photograph album for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from his scientific admirers in the Netherlands. He wrote to the Dutch zoologist Pieter Harting, An account of your countrymen’s generous sympathy in having sent me on my…
Matches: 1 hits
- … & I feel deeply for you. ( Letter to F. C. Donders, 19 May 1870 ) …
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
Science: A Man’s World?
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…
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
- … Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] Letter from Mary Treat, …
Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
