To Otto Zacharias 17 April [1878]
Summary
Doesn’t know anything about the insects in question, but has sent the photographs on to an expert in London.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Otto Zacharias |
Date: | 17 Apr [1878] |
Classmark: | University of Southern California Libraries, Special Collections, Feuchtwanger Memorial Library (Collection no. 0204, Lion Feuchtwanger papers, Box 01) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11478F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … no. 0204, Lion Feuchtwanger papers, Box 01) Charles Robert Darwin Down 17 Apr [1878] Otto …
From Edward Cresy 10 November 1860
Summary
Explains discrepancies in weights and measures caused by changes since 1836 in apothecaries’ measures.
EC has found that a discrepancy in A. W. von Hofmann’s experiments with iodine solutions resulted from an error in Hofmann’s use of decimals.
Reports S. P. Woodward’s opinion of the Origin: "a very sad book, it unsettles all one’s religious principles and the worst of it is so much of it is true".
Author: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 10 Nov 1860 |
Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 7, 9 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2980 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … of iodine in 1 kilogramme of water. i.e. .01 milligramme per gramme. [diag] The original …
- … of the solution containing therefore .01 milligramme that is 1 100 of a milligramme, & he …
- … 1000 grammes = 1 kilogramme = 1 litre—gives .01 per gramme and in this the Sec says I am …
- … to write a milligramme .001 then the D rs .01 becomes .00001 a very clumsy figure to work …
From Leonard Darwin [after 14 February 1874]
Author: | Leonard Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [after 14 Feb 1874] |
Classmark: | DAR 90: 8 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8709 |
To Karl von Scherzer 1 April 1878
Summary
Glad to hear of Ernst Haeckel’s reception in Vienna.
R. Virchow’s address ["Liberty of science", Nature 17 (1877–8): 72–4, 92–4, 111–13] very arrogant.
Sorry to hear of death of Arthur Lane.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Karl von Scherzer |
Date: | 1 Apr 1878 |
Classmark: | University of Southern California Libraries, Special Collections, Feuchtwanger Memorial Library (Collection no. 0204, Lion Feuchtwanger papers, Box 01) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11460 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … no. 0204, Lion Feuchtwanger papers, Box 01) Charles Robert Darwin Down 1 Apr 1878 Karl von …
To J. S. Burdon Sanderson 30 April [1876]
Summary
Suggests JSBS’s new machine for observing arterial action be used to test CD’s hypothesis that blushing is caused by thinking intensely about a part of the body and thus releasing the arteries.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Scott Burdon Sanderson, baronet |
Date: | 30 Apr [1876] |
Classmark: | University of British Columbia Library, Rare Books and Special Collections (Darwin - Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-01) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10485 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Burdon Sanderson letters RBSC-ARC-1731-1-01) Charles Robert Darwin London, Queen Anne St, …
From J. V. Carus 19 March 1876
Summary
Insectivorous plants is out
and Climbing plants is at the printer’s.
He is now at work on the geological writings.
Thinks all of CD’s papers extremely interesting "for the spirit and the method".
Cites some misprints in Climbing plants.
Author: | Julius Victor Carus |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 19 Mar 1876 |
Classmark: | DAR 161: 103 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10419 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … P. 58 l. 12 from bottom read 8,1 mg for 8, 01 mg. Do you happen to have a bound copy of …
Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
Carus, J. V. | (1) |
Cresy, Edward, Jr | (1) |
Darwin, Leonard | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
Burdon Sanderson, J. S. | (1) |
Scherzer, Karl von | (1) |
Zacharias, Otto | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
Burdon Sanderson, J. S. | (1) |
Carus, J. V. | (1) |
Cresy, Edward, Jr | (1) |
Darwin, Leonard | (1) |
Suggested reading
Summary
Contemporary writing Anon., The English matron: A practical manual for young wives, (London, 1846). Anon., The English gentlewoman: A practical manual for young ladies on their entrance to society, (Third edition, London, 1846). Becker, L. E.…
Matches: 0 hits

Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…

The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…

Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 1 hits
- … how some works might have escaped being recorded ( LL , 1: 151): He had one shelf on …

Darwin & Glen Roy
Summary
Although Darwin was best known for his geological work in South America and other remote Beagle destinations, he made one noteworthy attempt to explain a puzzling feature of British geology. In 1838, two years after returning from the voyage, he travelled…
Matches: 0 hits

Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the world. Key dates: 1 st edition published, 24 November 1859 …

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: 1 hits
- … was reluctant to do so, as he confessed to Darwin on 1 June : ‘the heat of battle is not the time …

Editorial policy and practice
Summary
Full texts are added to this site four years after the letter is published in the print edition of the Correspondence. Transcriptions are made from the original or a facsimile where these are available. Where they are not, texts are taken from the best…
Matches: 1 hits
- … in the printed volumes of the Correspondence . 1. The name of the correspondent …

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,…
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 …

Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … lying scoundrel.— ( Letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ) The Mivart …

Darwin and working from home
Summary
Ever wondered how Darwin worked? As part of our For the Curious series of simple interactives, ‘Darwin working from home’ lets you explore objects from Darwin’s study and garden at Down House to learn how he worked and what he had to say about it. And not…
Matches: 1 hits
- … shall end it . Charles Darwin to Robert FitzRoy, 1 October 1846 Darwin moved …

Volume 27 (1879) now published
Summary
In 1879, Darwin continued his research on movement in plants and researched, wrote, and published a short biography of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin as an introduction to a translation of an essay by Ernst Krause on Erasmus’s scientific work. Darwin’s son…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to have undertaken such a job. ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 December [1879] ) In early …

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: 1 hits
- … consume Darwin’s time. The first proof-sheets arrived on 1 March 1867 and the tedious work of …

Henrietta Darwin's diary
Summary
Darwin's daughter Henrietta kept a diary for a few momentous weeks in 1871. This was the year in which Descent of Man, the most controversial of her father's books after Origin itself, appeared, a book which she had helped him write. The small…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Lena much excited about the Mission which was just over. 1 Whilst it is fresh in my mind I …

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: 0 hits

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
Summary
George Eliot was the pen name of celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She was born on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire and was educated at boarding schools from the age of five until she was 16. Her education ended when she…
Matches: 0 hits

Six things Darwin never said – and one he did
Summary
Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly attributed to Darwin that never flowed from his pen.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Spot the fakes! Darwin is often quoted – and as often misquoted. Here are some sayings regularly …

Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … a wet compress all day on my stomach. I eat simply, dine at 1 oclock & take several short walks …

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…