To A. W. Bennett 11 March [1873]
Summary
Asks about woodblocks of illustrations for Climbing plants [1875].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alfred William Bennett |
| Date: | 11 Mar [1873] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.438) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9350 |
To Mary Treat 12 August 1873
Summary
Thanks MT for information on Drosera filiformis [see 8989].
Warns her against publishing statement about Drosera bending towards flies or meat that they have not touched.
Will send his book [Insectivorous plants] when published.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Mary Lua Adelia (Mary) Treat |
| Date: | 12 Aug 1873 |
| Classmark: | Vineland Historical and Antiquarian Society |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9005B |
Matches: 4 hits
- … By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. Freeman, Richard Broke. 1977. The works of …
- … Shoe String Press. Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
- … pp. 1–277. Insectivorous plants was published in July 1875; Climbing plants 2d ed. …
- … was published in November 1875 ( Freeman 1977 ). Treat’s name appears on CD’s presentation …
To C. I. F. Major 11 February 1873
Summary
Is sorry that CIFM has had to give up translating Expression into Italian.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Immanuel Forsyth Major |
| Date: | 11 Feb 1873 |
| Classmark: | Kotte Autographs (30 October 2008) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8763G |
To W. W. Baxter 11 December [1873–5]
Summary
Requests hydrated magnesia.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Walmisley Baxter |
| Date: | 11 Dec [1873-5] |
| Classmark: | Bromley Historic Collections, Bromley Central Library (144/2) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13772G |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Charles Robert Darwin Down 11 Dec 1873 11 Dec 1874 11 Dec 1875 William Walmisley Baxter …
To J. V. Carus 2 August [1873]
Summary
Regrets he cannot receive JVC at Down on Monday as he would then be too unwell to travel on Tuesday, when he must leave for a visit [to Abinger Hall, according to the Journal].
Has been working hard on Drosera and Dionaea. His next book will be on these plants and not, as he had intended, "On evil effects of Inter breeding".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 2 Aug [1873] |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin–Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859 Charles, Darwin, Bl. 106–107) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8996 |
To Francis Darwin 10 October 1873
Summary
Asks for details about microscope parts.
Wants FD to ask Hooker for species of Desmodium; CD believes he has found new movements.
Also ask whether Hooker has Drosophyllum.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Oct 1873 |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (JDH/3/6 Insectivorous plants 1873-8 f.1) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9095 |
To J. D. Hooker 23 October [1873]
Summary
Neptunia is evidently a hopeless case.
Good news that fluid of Nepenthes is acid.
No discovery ever gave him more pleasure than proving a true act of digestion in Drosera.
Has become profoundly interested in Desmodium. Asks whether Frank [Darwin] can look over the whole dried collection of the genus.
Has JDH any seed of Lathyrus nissolia?
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 23 Oct [1873] |
| Classmark: | DAR 95: 282–3 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9108 |
From G. G. Bianconi 28 November 1873
Summary
Thanks CD for promised observations on his book against evolution [La théorie Darwinienne et la création dite indépendante (1874)].
| Author: | Giovanni Giuseppe Bianconi |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Nov 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 180 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9164 |
To W. W. Baxter 21 September [1873]
Summary
Requests 6 2oz bottles with corks. Folic acid produces remarkable effect. Orders hydriodic acid.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Walmisley Baxter |
| Date: | 21 Sept [1873] |
| Classmark: | DAR 185: 136 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9061F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 1 October [1873]
Summary
Hears from Frank [Darwin] that Drosera behaves perversely. Suggests that motor influence may move longitudinally away from the excited glands.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Scott Burdon Sanderson, baronet |
| Date: | 1 Oct [1873] |
| Classmark: | University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Darwin - Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-7) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9081 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
To Ernst Haeckel 25 September 1873
Summary
Comments on EH’s Natürliche Schöpfungsgeschichte [4th ed.].
Has written paper on rudimentary structures ["Complemental males of certain cirripedes", (1873) Collected papers 2: 177–82].
Edward Morse thinks brachiopods should be classed with annelids ["The systematic position of the Brachiopoda", Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. 15 (1873): 315–73].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ernst Philipp August (Ernst) Haeckel |
| Date: | 25 Sept 1873 |
| Classmark: | Ernst-Haeckel-Haus, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität, Jena (Bestand A-Abt. 1: 1-52/30) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9068 |
From Francis Darwin [15–8 September 1873]
Summary
FD has asked J. B. Sanderson about Mucin.
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [15–18 Sept 1873] |
| Classmark: | DAR 274.1: 5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10156F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
From Edward Frankland 15 July 1873
Summary
Sends sodium carbonate for Drosera experiments. Will try to determine what the solvent is.
| Author: | Edward Frankland |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 15 July 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 164: 206 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8979 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 15 November [1873]
Summary
Frankland is sending JSBS organic acids for him to try artificial digestion. CD will send globulin and haemoglobin.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Scott Burdon Sanderson, baronet |
| Date: | 15 Nov [1873] |
| Classmark: | University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Darwin - Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-12) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9143 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
From W. M. Canby 22 April 1873
Summary
Sends leaves of Dionaea with insect prey in them. Size of insects captured may be affected by leaves not being fully grown.
| Author: | William Marriott Canby |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Apr 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 26–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8871 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
To W. M. Canby 7 May 1873
Summary
Thanks for the Dionaea leaves. They support CD’s anticipation that they are adapted to let the smaller fry escape [see Insectivorous plants, p. 312].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Marriott Canby |
| Date: | 7 May 1873 |
| Classmark: | Natural History Society of Delaware |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8904 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 27 August 1873
Summary
CD can provide leaves of Dionaea if JSBS wishes to investigate electric currents in them.
His experiments show that the digestive action of Drosera seems like that of true digestion.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Scott Burdon Sanderson, baronet |
| Date: | 27 Aug 1873 |
| Classmark: | National Library of Scotland (MS.6103 ff.101) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9029 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
To W. W. Baxter 8 September [1873]
Summary
Requests chemicals for Drosera experiments. Lists 12 acids tried so far.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Walmisley Baxter |
| Date: | 8 Sept [1873] |
| Classmark: | DAR 261.11: 6 (EH 88206058) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9046 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
From S. W. Moore 7 October 1873
Summary
Thanks CD for copies of his books.
Sends chlorophyll extract [for CD’s work on Drosera digestion].
| Author: | Samuel William Moore |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Oct 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 43 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9090 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 18 October [1873]
Summary
Suggests experiments on artificial digestion.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Scott Burdon Sanderson, baronet |
| Date: | 18 Oct [1873] |
| Classmark: | University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Darwin - Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-26) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9684 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Bibliography Insectivorous plants. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1875. …
| letter | (85) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (48) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (8) |
| Frankland, Edward | (3) |
| Moore, S. W. | (3) |
| Burdon Sanderson, J. S. | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (37) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (9) |
| Burdon Sanderson, J. S. | (7) |
| Baxter, W. W. | (5) |
| Darwin, Francis | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (85) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (17) |
| Burdon Sanderson, J. S. | (9) |
| Darwin, Francis | (6) |
| Frankland, Edward | (6) |
Origin is 160; Darwin's 1875 letters now online
Summary
To mark the 160th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species, the full transcripts and footnotes of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1875…
Matches: 11 hits
- … of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first …
- … it behaved in similar ways to the Drosera secretion. In 1875, Klein was a very controversial …
- … I liked the man .’ Other highlights from the 1875 letters include: I am very …
- … of my books. ( Letter to R. F. Cooke, 29 June [1875] ) Darwin wrote this to his …
- … new Editions . ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 August [1875] ) Darwin also completed …
- … this possible ( Letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January [1875] ) Agitation for a law …
- … made false statements ( Letter to John Lubbock, 8 April 1875 ) Relations between the …
- … always succeeds ( Letter to G. H. Darwin, 13 October [1875] ) Darwin wrote …
- … help his father and brothers with scientific instruments: in 1875, he designed a hygrometer. …
- … his great works ( Letter to A. B. Buckley, 23 February 1875 ) The year was saddened …
- … in my time ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 December 1875] ) In December, Darwin was …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 24 hits
- … during his periods of severe illness. Yet on 15 January 1875 , Darwin confessed to his close …
- … mouthpiece of ‘Jesuitical Rome’ ( Academy , 2 January 1875, pp. 16–17). ‘How grandly you have …
- … again & again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January 1875 ). Darwin had also considered …
- … learned of Klein’s testimony from Huxley on 30 October 1875 : ‘I declare to you I did not believe …
- … carried out on live animals in laboratories. In January 1875, he received details of experiments by …
- … printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). In the event, the book …
- … in a review of the book in the Academy , 24 July 1875, by Ellen Frances Lubbock: ‘in Utricularia …
- … born (letter from E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 July] 1875). Back over old ground …
- … which I had long wished to see,’ he wrote on 21 April 1875 , ‘and now that I have seen it, I am …
- … do a good deal of “hammering”,’ he wrote on 14 July 1875 . ‘I shall not let Pangenesis alone …
- … his own theory of heredity in a series of articles in 1875 and 1876, based partly on his studies of …
- … & more’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [ c . February 1875?] ). By May, having finished …
- … proofmaniac’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, 1 and 2 May [1875] ). But Francis also found …
- … on astronomy, or the Duke of Wellington on art (Max Müller 1875, pp. 305–7). The debate between Max …
- … researches (Carus trans. 1875b; the series is Carus trans. 1875–87). More controversial was the …
- … Darwin wrote: ‘An anonymous compliment | received Feb 16th 1875’. The great and the good …
- … Insectivorous plants ( letter to D. F. Nevill, 15 July [1875] ). Such visitors from the upper …
- … I can talk to anyone’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 3 May [1875] ). Finally it was arranged for the …
- … of twining plants (letters from Lawson Tait, 16 March [1875] and 27 March [1875] ). ‘As I am …
- … Nepenthes & will soon publish’, Darwin warned on 17 July 1875 . But Tait was undaunted. He …
- … Thiselton-Dyer ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 7 July 1875 ). It was Thiselton-Dyer who …
- … was appropriate for so distinguished a nominee. Already in 1875, Lankester had been elected a fellow …
- … of Lyell’s failing health from Hooker in 1874 and January 1875. On 22 February, he was notified of …
- … ‘high type’ ( letter from Woodward Emery, 17 September 1875 ). …
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
Matches: 17 hits
- … the Trichinae’ (letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January [1875] ). Darwin also worried that any bill …
- … their own petition (letter to T. H. Huxley, 14 January 1875 ). In the event, Darwin became …
- … within Darwin’s family. In his letter of 14 January 1875 to Huxley, Darwin mentioned the effect …
- … (letter from Emma Darwin to F. P. Cobbe, 14 January [1875] ). In the course of the public …
- … to Huxley (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 12 February 1875 ). Darwin was in London from 31 …
- … sketch for a petition (letter from T. H. Huxley, [4 April 1875] ). This was evidently passed back …
- … on 7 April (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 7 April [1875] ), and circulating it to others in …
- … were made (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 10 April 1875 ), and another version was prepared …
- … of Lords (see letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, [11 April 1875] ). He was still unsure whether …
- … Royal Society of London (letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 April [1875] ). The next day he wrote to …
- … else you think best’ (letter to E. H. Stanley, 15 April 1875 ). After further consultations, a …
- … are evident in Darwin’s correspondence in April and May 1875. The initial petition (DAR …
- … order of the clauses. In the revised sketch, dated 24 April 1875, the penalty for unlawful …
- … at this alteration (letter from T. H. Huxley, 19 May 1875 , letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, …
- … corrections had been made (letter to Lyon Playfair, 26 May 1875 , and letter from Lyon Playfair, …
- … ( Hansard Parliamentary Debates , 3d ser., vol. 224 (1875), col. 794). A Royal Commission was a …
- … the RSPCA. The commission met between 5 June and 15 December 1875, examining fifty-three witnesses, …
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),…
Thomas Burgess
Summary
As well as its complement of sailors, the Beagle also carried a Royal Marine sergeant and seven marines, one of whom was Thomas Burgess. When the Beagle set sail he was twenty one, having been born in October 1810 to Israel and Hannah Burgess of Lancashire…
Matches: 1 hits
- … about him again until he opened a letter from him in March 1875 . It was written from Rainow, a …
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 6 hits
- … vol. 23, letter from Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg, 20 September 1875 ). He began to compile an account …
- … end of the previous year. He had been incensed in December 1875 when the zoologist Edwin Ray …
- … The controversial issue had occupied Darwin for much of 1875. In January 1876, a Royal Commission …
- … to Insectivorous plants , which was published in July 1875, with a US edition published later …
- … in February 1876 (despite bearing a publication date of 1875), Darwin must have been gratified by …
- … Darwin, who had communicated the paper to the society in 1875 at Tait’s request, with the ‘awful job …
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: 5 hits
- … not retract his criticism in his own second edition (Dana 1875, p. 274). Descent …
- … (Correspondence vol. 23, from J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1875] ), preferring to attack Mivart in …
- … Anthropogenie in the Academy (2 January 1875; see Appendix V, pp. 644–5) . The affair …
- … wrote a polite, very formal letter to Mivart on 12 January 1875 , refusing to hold any future …
- … and a second French edition was published in January 1875 ( letter from C.-F. Reinwald , 4 February …
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
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…
Vivisection: Darwin's testimony to the Royal Commission
Summary
Wednesday, 3rd November 1875. Mr. Charles Darwin called in and examined. 4661. (Chairman.) We are very sensible of your kindness in coming at some sacrifice to yourself to express your opinions to the Commission. We attribute it to the great…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Wednesday, 3rd November 1875. Mr. Charles Darwin called in and examined. …
Vivisection: first sketch of the bill
Summary
Strictly Confidential Mem: This print is only a first sketch. It is being now recast with a new & more simple form – but the substance of the proposed measure may be equally well seen in this draft. R.B.L. | 2 586 Darwin and vivisection …
Matches: 4 hits
- … cited for all purposes as “The Experiments on Animals Act, 1875.” SCHEDULE. …
- … under the provisions of “The Experiments on Animals Act, 1875,” empowering me to make experiments on …
- … under the provisions of the Experiments on Animals Act, 1875, that the above-named M.N. is enaged in …
- … under the provisions of the Experiments on Animals Act, 1875, accompanied by Certificate, such as is …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 5 hits
- … to an end. The dispute was not resolved until early 1875, and, even then, not to Darwin’s complete …
- … from J. D. Hooker, 29 December 1874 ). By January 1875, Mivart had still not made any …
- … book Anthropogenie , in the Academy , 2 January 1875. ‘Possessed by a blind animosity against …
- … (Mivart was a Catholic convert.) On 12 January 1875 , Darwin finally wrote to Mivart, …
- … article in a letter published in the Academy , 16 January 1875, p. 66, signed, ‘The Quarterly …
Insectivorous Plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Plants that consume insects Darwin began his work with insectivorous plants in the mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin reflected on the delay that…
Darwin and the Church
Summary
The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It shows another side of the man who is more often remembered for his personal struggles with faith, or for his role in large-scale controversies over the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to reconcile them (letter from John Lubbock, 5 April [1875] ). The tensions between the …
Dipsacus and Drosera: Frank’s favourite carnivores
Summary
In Autumn of 1875, Francis Darwin was busy researching aggregation in the tentacles of Drosera rotundifolia (F. Darwin 1876). This phenomenon occurs when coloured particles within either protoplasm or the fluid in the cell vacuole (the cell sap) cluster…
Matches: 3 hits
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
- … Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to Darwin, [16 July 1875] Charlotte Pape responds to …
Thomas Henry Huxley
Summary
Dubbed “Darwin’s bulldog” for his combative role in controversies over evolution, Huxley was a leading Victorian zoologist, science popularizer, and education reformer. He was born in Ealing, a small village west of London, in 1825. With only two years of…
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … would culminate in two books, Insectivorous plants (1875) and Cross and self fertilisation …
Plant or animal? (Or: Don’t try this at home!)
Summary
Darwin is famous for showing that humans are just another animal, but, in his later years in particular, his real passion was something even more ambitious: to show that there are no hard-and-fast boundaries between animals and plants. In 1875 Darwin…
Matches: 1 hits
- … boundaries between animals and plants. In 1875 Darwin brought out an unassuming little book …
Inheritance
Summary
It was crucial to Darwin’s theories of species change that naturally occurring variations could be inherited. But at the time when he wrote Origin, he had no explanation for how inheritance worked – it was just obvious that it did. Darwin’s attempt to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … under domestication, and revised for the second edition in 1875 (2d ed. 2: 349–99). ‘The whole …
