To Hugo de Vries 13 February 1879
Summary
Discusses heliotropism in plant cotyledons. Asks for information.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Hugo de Vries |
Date: | 13 Feb 1879 |
Classmark: | Artis Library (De Vries 5) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11881 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … Bibliography Vries, Hugo de. 1872. Ueber einige Ursachen der Richtung …
- … methodology of his experiment is in Vries 1872 , p. 259. CD had asked Gray to send seeds …
- … great interest & profit, your Essay in Heft 2. 1872 of Arbeiten … Wurzburg I have been …
- … symmetrical plant parts; Vries 1872 ) was published in Arbeiten des botanischen Instituts …
- … Archive–CUL. For the German, see Vries 1872 , p. 261; an English translation of the German …
- … For De Vries’s explanation of cutting away the lamina, see Vries 1872 , pp. 262–3. De …
From John Denny 16 August 1879
Summary
JD communicates, after seven years, news of a new "sport" of Pelargonium, sterile both with other varieties and with the mother plant, thus indicating that it is possibly a new species.
Author: | John Denny |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 16 Aug 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 161 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12195 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … influence of parentage in flowering plants. Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 June 1872, p. …
- … 872, 6 July 1872, pp. 904–5. Denny, John. …
- … vol. 20, letter to John Denny, 22 July 1872 . CD had referred to Denny’s observations of …
- … 1872b. On cross-breeding pelargoniums. Florist and Pomologist (January 1872): 10– …
- … 12, (February 1872): 34– …
- … 6, (March 1872): 50–3. Origin : On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or …
- … a draft of a letter to Denny of 14 July [1872] ( Correspondence vol. 20), which CD might …
- … reply to my Communication (Letter of July 15 1872) you remarked, that you considered I had …
From Paul Aussant-Carà 13 June 1879
Author: | Paul (Paolo) Aussant-Carà |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 13 June 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 159: 128 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12106 |
From Hugo de Vries 24 February 1879
Summary
Did not wish to imply that some leaves are insensitive to light, only that he could not measure their sensitivity. Contraction of roots seems common.
Author: | Hugo de Vries |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 24 Feb 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 209.3: 336 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11900 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … London: John Murray. 1880. Vries, Hugo de. 1872. Ueber einige Ursachen der Richtung …
- … botanischen Instituts in Würzburg ( Vries 1872 , p. 261). Clematis is a genus of climbing …
- … downward bending respectively ( Vries 1872 , p. 252). CD later adopted the terms because …
- … methodology for the experiments, see Vries 1872 , pp. 244–8. See letter to Hugo de Vries, …
From E. A. Darwin 11 March [1879]
Summary
Suggests CD send Kosmos to W. S. Dallas as Krause will surely give his permission for translation.
Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 11 Mar [1879] |
Classmark: | DAR 105: 108–9 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11923 |
From E. A. Darwin 8 March [1879]
Summary
Has read Krause’s "Life of Erasmus Darwin" [Kosmos 4 (1879): 397–424]; thinks it very interesting to anyone interested in "Darwinismus" – everybody.
Author: | Erasmus Alvey Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 Mar [1879] |
Classmark: | DAR 92: B2; DAR 105: B105, B110 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11918 |
From T. L. Brunton 26 April [1879]
Summary
Regrets he has not given Zoonomia the attention it deserves. Informs CD that Erasmus Darwin may have anticipated a discovery about paralysis of vessels by exposure to heat [see Erasmus Darwin, p. 109].
Author: | Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 26 Apr [1879] |
Classmark: | DAR 99: 183 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12014 |
From C. V. Smith [1879]
Author: | Charles Valentine Smith |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [1879] |
Classmark: | DAR 69: A61–2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8131 |
From H. N. Moseley 21 January 1879
Summary
Thanks CD for accepting dedication.
Asks CD to support his candidacy for position as Registrar of the University of London by talking to Sir John Lubbock, one of the most influential members of the Senate.
Author: | Henry Nottidge Moseley |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 21 Jan 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 257 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11840 |
From H. N. Moseley 5 February 1879
Summary
Sends regards from Capt. Charles Owen, who had collected beetles for CD.
Owen’s son is going to Oregon with Wallis Nash.
Author: | Henry Nottidge Moseley |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Feb 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 258 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11860 |
To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 24 March 1879
Summary
Wants a Cassia identified
and several plants and seeds for experimental purposes.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Turner Thiselton-Dyer |
Date: | 24 Mar 1879 |
Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Darwin: Letters to Thiselton-Dyer, 1873–81: ff. 166–8) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11950 |
To H. N. Moseley 20 January 1879
Summary
Thanks for HNM’s [Notes by a naturalist on the "Challenger" (1879)].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Henry Nottidge Moseley |
Date: | 20 Jan 1879 |
Classmark: | Christie’s, London (dealers) (online 31 October – 8 November 2018, lot 11) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11837 |
From E. R. Shaw 2 December 1879
Summary
Describes bearded horses seen on island of Sark.
Author: | Edmund Rogers Shaw |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Dec 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 148 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12339 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … a correspondent of CD’s in 1860, 1869, and 1872 (see Correspondence vols 8, 17, and 20). …
To Francis Darwin 4 July [1879]
Summary
CD gives suggestions concerning FD’s experiments on the radicles of roots. Asks him to find out whether J. von Sachs tried beans. Should also try other gramineous plants.
Bernard looking forward to his father’s return.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
Date: | 4 July [1879] |
Classmark: | DAR 271.4: 16 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12134A |
From Hugo de Vries 7 August 1879
Summary
Experiments to determine mechanism of tendril curvature; importance of variations in cell turgidity. Contraction in roots caused by increased turgor.
Author: | Hugo de Vries |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 7 Aug 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 180: 22 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12186 |
From Thomas Maston 5 February 1879
Summary
A stonemason who has read Origin and Descent and defends CD’s theory against theological prejudice, would like to read CD’s other books but is too poor to afford them.
Author: | Thomas Maston |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 5 Feb 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 88 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11859 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Origin 6th ed. (first published in 1872) and Descent 2d ed. (published in 1874 in a single …
From A. B. Buckley 16 December 1879
Summary
On Wallace’s need for a regular income. He has been rejected as Superintendent of Epping Forest. Thinks men such as Lubbock, Hooker, and CD might help.
Author: | Arabella Burton Buckley |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 16 Dec 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 366 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12358 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … In the event, when the museum opened in 1872, it was managed from South Kensington. ( …
To Fanny Kellogg 13 April 1879
Summary
Sends thanks for "communicating the curious case of a habitual gesture, like that which I have treated as inherited. I may add that since I write, the action has been transmitted to another generation. Your case shall be sent to Mr Galton, who gave me the information".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Fanny Kellogg |
Date: | 13 Apr 1879 |
Classmark: | Charles Hamilton (dealer) (28 May 1981); Sotheby’s, New York (dealers) (28 April 2021, lot 49) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11992 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of the emotions in man and animals. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872. …
From J. W. Judd 9 December 1879
Summary
Sorry he was out when CD came to visit.
Author: | John Wesley Judd |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 9 Dec 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 168: 85 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12347 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … and natural history departments had moved in 1872, and the geological department in 1877. …
From Albin Gaertner 27 May 1879
Summary
CD’s works have opened a new world for him.
Sends a case of inheritance: a fingernail biting habit has persisted for four generations in a Viennese lawyer’s family.
Author: | Albin Gaertner |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 27 May 1879 |
Classmark: | DAR 165: 1 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12064 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872. Variation : The variation of animals and …
letter | (34) |
Darwin, C. R. | (9) |
Darwin, E. A. | (2) |
Moseley, H. N. | (2) |
Vries, Hugo de | (2) |
Aussant-Carà, Paul | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (25) |
Darwin, Francis | (2) |
Moseley, H. N. | (2) |
Kellogg, Fanny | (1) |
Semper, C. G. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (34) |
Moseley, H. N. | (4) |
Darwin, Francis | (3) |
Vries, Hugo de | (3) |
Darwin, E. A. | (2) |

Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 29 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can …
- … as evolution’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 27 July [1872] ). By the end of the year Darwin …
- … s. 6 d. ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 February 1872 ). Always closely involved in …
- … translator ( letter to J. J. Moulinié, 23 September 1872 ). He recapped the history of the French …
- … of the year ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald, 23 November 1872 ). To persuade his US publisher, …
- … Mivart ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). A worsening breach The …
- … beautiful’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 3 March 1872 ). I consider that you have …
- … Darwin ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 5 January 1872 ). Piqued, Mivart flung back by return of post …
- … errors’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 6 January 1872 ). Darwin likened the affair to the …
- … towards me’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 8 January [1872] ). Despite Darwin’s request that he …
- … world’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 10 January 1872 ). Darwin, determined to have the last …
- … acknowledge it ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). 'I hate controversy,’ Darwin …
- … I do it badly’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 3 August [1872] ). Darwin's theories under …
- … the world moves!’ ( letter from Mary Treat, 13 December 1872 ). 'Here is a bee' …
- … it at least in part ( letter to August Weismann, 5 April 1872 ). ‘I wanted some encouragement’, he …
- … to believe it’ ( letter to Herman Müller, [before 5 May 1872] ). Müller had sent him a …
- … of natural and sexual selection to bees (H. Müller 1872), and with his reply Darwin enclosed an …
- … standing’ ( letter to Hermann Müller, [before 5 May 1872] ). Finishing Expression …
- … doing nothing’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 October [1872] ). He was far from idle during their …
- … to be more erect’ ( letter to Briton Riviere, 19 May [1872] ). Riviere had been suggested to …
- … clever book’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 21 November 1872 ) and invited Butler to dinner the …
- … from Samuel Butler to Francis Darwin, [before 30 May 1872] , and letter from Samuel Butler, 30 …
- … feels no doubts’ ( letter to F. C. Donders, 17 June 1872 ). Right up to the beginning of June, …
- … Buckley Litchfield ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 13 May 1872 ). Delivery to the press brought only …
- … myself’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 25 July 1872 ). A battle for the independence of …
- … partisan reply ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 May 1872 ). On 13 June, a messenger arrived in …
- … to letter from John Lubbock to W. E. Gladstone, 20 June 1872 ). Darwin was quietly using his …
- … an old honest Tory’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 July [1872] ). Darwin and Wallace: …
- … Wallace’s defence ( letter to Nature , 3 August [1872] ). Although the two men were …

Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…

New features for Charles Darwin's 208th birthday
Summary
The website has been updated with an interactive timeline (try it!) and enhanced secondary school resources for ages 11-14. What's more, the full texts of the letters for 1872 are now online for the first time, and a selection of Darwin's…

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…
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.…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Letter 8321 - Darwin to Litchfield, H. E., [13 May 1872] Darwin consults his …
- … Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, reports …
- … Letter 8427 - Darwin to Litchfield H. E., [25 July 1872] Darwin thanks Henrietta for …
- … 8168 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the results …
- … 8193 - Ruck, A. R. to Darwin, H., [1 February 1872] Amy Ruck sends a second …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … Letter 7345 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [15 June 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, reports …
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: 9 hits
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …
- … Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to Darwin, [17 December 1872] Dora Roberts reports an …
- … 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, Lucy, …
- … 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the results …
- … Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin asks his …
- … Letter 8169 - Wedgwood, L. to Darwin, [20 January, 1872] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, gives the …
- … 8427 - Darwin to Litc hfield, H. E., [25 July 1872] Darwin thanks Henrietta for …
- … 8153 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [9 January 1872] Darwin thanks his son William …
- … Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [13 December 1872] Mary Treat details her …

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
- … Lydia Becker, 2 August 1863 ; to Mary Treat, 5 January 1872 ). Click on the play …

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),…

Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the fittest’ as ‘survival of the better’ (see Spencer 1872, and the letter to Herbert Spencer, 10 …
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…
Darwin as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…

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 …
4.13 'Fun' cartoon by Griset, 'Emotional'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Ernest Griset’s drawing titled ‘Emotional!’ was published in Fun magazine on 23 November 1872, and is another skit referring to Darwin’s recently published Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. A hippopotamus had been…

Thomas Rivers
Summary
Rivers and Darwin exchanged around 30 letters, most in 1863 when Darwin was hard at work on the manuscript of Variation of plants and animals under domestication, the lengthy and detailed sequel to Origin of species. Rivers, an experienced plant breeder…
Matches: 1 hits
- … for the prosperity I have long enjoyed” ( 29 March 1872 ). …
4.5 William Beard, comic painting
Summary
< Back to Introduction In June 1872, Darwin’s friend Asa Gray, the Harvard Professor of Botany, sent him a print or photograph of a comic painting by the American artist William Holbrook Beard. Titled The Youthful Darwin Expounding His Theories, it…
Matches: 3 hits

Climbing Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A monograph by which to work After the publication of On the Origin of Species, Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, The Descent of Man, and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in…

Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…

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: 3 hits
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: 4 hits
- … book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872) led him to the Swedish-born …
- … him in May, August and October 1871, and in March and August 1872, but some of these payments, and …
- … April 1871, and reproduced in the London Journal in June 1872. Darwin also sent it to various …
- … one of Huxley, in The London Journal , 55:1426 (8 June 1872), p. 357, illustrating an article …
4.20 Frederick Waddy, caricature
Summary
< Back to Introduction A series of portrait caricatures drawn by Frederick Waddy appeared in the journal Once a Week through 1872. It clearly emulated the more famous series in Vanity Fair, and indeed, Waddy’s drawing of Darwin has the same title or…