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) |
Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia
Summary
Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…
Matches: 1 hits
- … enthusiasm in a letter to William Darwin Fox, 23 May 1833 ( Correspondence vol. 1): …
Essay: What is Darwinism?
Summary
—by Asa Gray WHAT IS DARWINISM? The Nation, May 28, 1874 The question which Dr. Hodge asks he promptly and decisively answers: ‘What is Darwinism? it is atheism.’ Leaving aside all subsidiary and incidental matters, let us consider–1. What the…
Matches: 4 hits
- … all subsidiary and incidental matters, let us consider–1. What the Darwinian doctrine is, and 2. How …
- … notable work, and in the words of Whewell and Bishop Butler: 1. The establishment by divine power of …
- … doctrine of Mr. Darwin that species owe their origin–1. Not to the original intention of the divine …
- … accounting for contrivances in Nature; the other two being–1. Their reference to the blind operation …

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…

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad
Summary
At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…
Matches: 0 hits

Darwin’s hothouse and lists of hothouse plants
Summary
Darwin became increasingly involved in botanical experiments in the years after the publication of Origin. The building of a small hothouse - a heated greenhouse - early in 1863 greatly increased the range of plants that he could keep for scientific…
Matches: 0 hits

Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
Doing Darwin’s Experiments
Summary
Darwin’s curiosity for the natural world meant he carried out experiments throughout his life. Try out his experiments in the class room and compare your results with his findings.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin wrote to thousands of correspondents and his letters and notebooks show us how he worked. …
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
Darwin and Religion
Summary
When Darwin published On the Origin of Species, was there a clear cut division between those who supported science and those who supported God? Find out how Darwin’s letters reveal a complex reaction from all sides and a desire from Darwin to keep his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Pupils explore the reaction to Darwin’s findings as evidenced through his letters. Activities …

John Maurice Herbert
Summary
John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately called ‘Cherbury’ by Darwin, a reference to the seventeenth-century philosopher Edward Herbert, Baron Cherbury, who, like John Herbert, hailed from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … with Surds and the Binomial Theorem’ ( Life and letters 1: 171). Even before the study trip, …
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
- … lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March 1862 - DAR 219.1:49) Emma Darwin …
Darwin and Gender Projects by Harvard Students
Summary
Working in collaboration with Professor Sarah Richardson and Dr Myrna Perez, Darwin Correspondence Project staff developed a customised set of 'Darwin and Gender' themed resources for a course on Gender, Sex and Evolution first taught at Harvard…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Previous Projects: The students’ brief was 1) to design a set of projects which highlight the …
Essay: Natural selection & natural theology
Summary
—by Asa Gray NATURAL SELECTION NOT INCONSISTENT WITH NATURAL THEOLOGY. Atlantic Monthly for July, August, and October, 1860, reprinted in 1861. I Novelties are enticing to most people; to us they are simply annoying. We cling to a long-accepted…
Matches: 4 hits
- … indication of their particular bearing. There is— 1. The general fact of variability, and the …
- … to Adolphe Brongniart, whose statements we here condense 1 —the inhabitants of these different …
- … opposing side of the question we have read with attention—1. An article in the North American Review …
- … may claim to be both philosophical and theistic: 1. The view of its exertion at the beginning …

John Lort Stokes
Summary
John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not always an enviable position. After Darwin’s death, Stokes penned a description of their evenings spent working at the large table at the centre, Stokes at his…

Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
Matches: 4 hits
- … in little frequented countries.’ ( Collected papers 1: 228). Not surprisingly, the leading …
- … of the geological results of the Beagle voyage, on 1 October 1846, Darwin at last found time to …
- … the ‘curious’ genus Sagitta ( Collected papers 1: 177–82) and another on marine and terrestial …
- … His Beagle diary of zoological observations (DAR 31.1: 305–8) contains a description, dated 8 …
Early Days
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment The young Charles Darwin From an early age, Darwin exhibited a keen interest in the natural world. His boyish fascination with naturalist pursuits deepened as he entered college and started to interact with…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Origin of Species: A Biography. (2008) Grove Press, pages 1 – 83. Letters …

Antoinette Brown Blackwell
Summary
Antoinette Brown Blackwell (1825–1921) was born in Henrietta, New York. In early life she began to preach in her local Congregational Church and went on to teach. Throughout her life she was a renowned public speaker, a vociferous social reformer and…

The evolution of honeycomb
Summary
Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…

Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 1 hits
- … & what is delightful, I am able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. …

Jane Gray
Summary
Jane Loring Gray, the daughter of a Boston lawyer, married the Harvard botanist Asa Gray in 1848 and evidence suggests that she took an active interest in the scientific pursuits of her husband and his friends. Although she is only known to have…