From F. J. Myers 20 January 1881
Summary
Gives an account of the Syracuse Botanical Club and its activities.
| Author: | Frances J. Hough; Frances J. Myers |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 20 Jan 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 526 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13020 |
From Francis Darwin [before 4 June 1881]
Summary
Encloses letter from Elfving (not found). Should he publish on false circumnutation?
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 4 June 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 274.1: 75 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13192F |
From H. N. Moseley 24 September 1881
Summary
Asks CD for a testimonial as he is a candidate for Chair in Zoology at Oxford.
| Author: | Henry Nottidge Moseley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Sept 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 202: 114 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13354 |
To Alexander Agassiz 1 [June] 1881
Summary
Thanks AA for letter on coral reefs. "I used to think … that areas of elevation and of subsidence must – as a general rule be separated by a single great line of fissure, or rather of several".
Suggests that AA urge again his views on reappearance of old characters.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alexander Agassiz |
| Date: | 1 [June] 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 10 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12965 |
To Francis Darwin [16 June 1881]
Summary
Describes seeds sent by George Payne [see 13205]. Is surprised that they bury themselves.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | [16 June 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 98v |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13206 |
From F. A. Tscherning 6 May 1881
Summary
Sends a copy of his dissertation on the germination of the Cucurbitaceae.
| Author: | Friedrich August Tscherning |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 May 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 195 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13147 |
From W. P. Snow 21 November 1881
Summary
Is planning a revised edition of his Cruise in Tierra del Fuego [1857], and finds his opinions on the natives the reverse of CD’s.
Hopes he may call some time.
| Author: | William Parker Snow |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 21 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 177: 214 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13495 |
From Francis Darwin 16 July 1881
Summary
Reports de Bary’s opinion of Max Cornu. Accounts of various botanical experiments and observations.
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 16 July 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 274.1: 71 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13245F |
From Francis Darwin 23 [May 1881]
Summary
Would like some of his notes. Has been looking at roots of Linum, cucurbits, larch, and orchids. Is content that mother should teach Bernard whatever religion she likes.
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 [May 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 274.1: 66 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13170F |
From James Geikie 15 December 1881
Summary
Seeks a testimonial for the Chair of Geology at Edinburgh.
| Author: | James Murdoch (James) Geikie |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 Dec 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 202: 103 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13552 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Geological Survey of Great Britain since 1872. Archibald Geikie was the director of the …
To Alpheus Hyatt 8 May 1881
Summary
Aware that AH thinks CD has done nothing to advance the good cause of the descent theory.
Obliged for gift of AH’s [Tertiary species of Planorbis at Steinheim (1880)].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alpheus Hyatt |
| Date: | 8 May 1881 |
| Classmark: | Maryland Historical Society (Alpheus Hyatt Papers MS 1007) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13151 |
From G. J. Romanes 7 March 1881
Summary
Responds to MS of Earthworms. An objective but arbitrary test of intelligence in animals is the ability to learn from experience. Earthworms fall on the border of intelligence. They could justly be called intelligent if they could learn by experience to manipulate some unknown, exotic leaf. CD should make clear that intelligence does not imply self-consciousness.
| Author: | George John Romanes |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 216 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13077 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 20, letter to St G. J. Mivart, 11 January [1872] ). CD had sent references from Gardeners’ …
From Adolphe Damseaux 19 November 1881
Summary
AD asks CD’s advice on possible causes of a decline in the Belgian hop crop.
| Author: | Adolphe Damseaux |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 37 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13491 |
To T. L. Brunton 11 October 1881
Summary
Thanks TLB for the collection of his writings.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 11 Oct 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 170 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13391 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of the Royal Society of London 21 (1872–3): 358–74; 22 (1873–4): 68–133. Earthworms : The …
From Werner von Voigts-Rhetz [after 18 April 1881]
Summary
On vivisection. Has read CD’s letter to Frithiof Holmgren and answers the points raised in it.
| Author: | Werner Adolf Friedrich Wilhelm (Werner) von Voigts-Rhetz |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [after 18 Apr 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 180: 14 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13127 |
To George King 24 October 1881
Summary
Thanks for specimen of Dischidia. Will ask Hooker who might dissect it.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George King |
| Date: | 24 Oct 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 146: 19 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13426 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … sent CD worm-castings from South India in 1872 and from the south of France in 1873 (see …
From C. J. Breese 7 November 1881
Summary
Sends CD an abstract of his 1871 paper on the earthworm, and requests information on the phenomenon of luminosity.
| Author: | Charles James Breese |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 289 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13469 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … the West Kent Natural History Society for 1872. The abstract is summarised in Nature , 16 …
From M. W. Tanner 12 December 1881
Summary
Earthworms appear on surface after a heavy storm.
| Author: | Mary Willes Roberts; Mary Willes Tanner |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Dec 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 178: 51 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13547 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … may interest you. Late in the summer of 1872, towards dusk, after a very violent storm of …
From Peter Beveridge 3 October 1881
Summary
Regarding CD’s paper ["Inheritance", Nature 24 (1881): 257; he comments on absence of black sheep at his father’s sheep station.
Notes that the repeated brandings of sheep produce no inherited effect, and a woman’s withered leg was not inherited by her children.
| Author: | Peter Beveridge |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Oct 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 179 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13369 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … science teacher. Andrew Beveridge (1796–1872). Andrew Beveridge (1822–46). Beveridge …
To W. E. Darwin 3 January [1881]
Summary
Thanks WED for some earthworm observations.
Discusses investments.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Jan [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 170 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12973 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … sent diagrams and notes that he had made in 1872 on the thickness of the mould on Teg Down …
| letter | (36) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
| Darwin, Francis | (4) |
| Allen, Grant | (1) |
| Arruda Furtado, Francisco de | (1) |
| Beveridge, Peter | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (22) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (2) |
| Agassiz, Alexander | (1) |
| Arruda Furtado, Francisco de | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (36) |
| Darwin, Francis | (5) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (3) |
| Arruda Furtado, Francisco de | (2) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (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…
