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) |
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.…
Eliza Burt Gamble
Summary
Women have interpreted and applied evolutionary theory in arguments about women’s nature for over a century. Eliza Burt Gamble (1841-1920) was a pioneer in this endeavor. Gamble was an advocate of the Woman Movement, a mother, a writer, and a teacher from…

Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 0 hits

Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 9580 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H. D., [1 August 1874] Darwin gives feedback on work …

Journal of researches
Summary
Within two months of the Beagle’s arrival back in England in October 1836, Darwin, although busy with distributing his specimens among specialists for description, and more interested in working on his geological research, turned his mind to the task 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: 0 hits

Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Matches: 1 hits
- … well known philosopher and poet’ ( Correspondence vol. 1, letter from Francis Beaufort to …

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: 0 hits

Darwin’s observations on his children
Summary
Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…

Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 0 hits
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … red cabbage were traced over time: ‘Bristle was gummed to 1 Cot. & beyond it a triangular bit of …

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…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Letter 8137 - William Darwin to Charles Darwin, 1 January 1872 Darwin’s eldest son …
- … DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. What do you think of Darwin's letter to John Murray? What does …
- … used to understand the hearing power of worms. In Chapter 1 of Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms …
- … played as loudly as possible, they remained perfectly quiet.[1] In spite of the NEC …
- … are reactive to sound and/or vibrations! [1] Charles Darwin, Vegetable Mould and …

Books on the Beagle
Summary
The Beagle was a sort of floating library. Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…

Natural Science and Femininity
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…
Matches: 1 hits
- … . Discussion Questions 1. Where did natural science tend to be …

Orchids
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A project to follow On the Origin of Species Darwin began to observe English orchids and collect specimens from abroad in the years immediately following the publication of On the Origin of Species. Examining…
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: 1 hits
- … Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862] Darwin tells American naturalist Asa …

Darwin's notes for his physician, 1865
Summary
On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher who had studied medicine in London and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher …