To F. T. Buckland 2 October 1866
Summary
Declines contributing to Land and Water. Asks if F. T. Buckland can insert a question about the feet of otter hounds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Buckland, F. T. |
| Date: | 02 Oct 1866 |
| Classmark: | Rendells |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5227F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Rendells Charles Robert Darwin 02 Oct 1866 Buckland, F. T. …
From Francis Darwin to Thomas Edison [20–9 December 1877]
Summary
His father asks him to thank TAE for sending the curious case of the insects [see 11271].
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Alva Edison |
| Date: | [20–9 Dec 1877] |
| Classmark: | Thomas Edison National Park (Edison Document File, 1878 Folder: (D-78-02) Edison, T.A. – General) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11312A |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Edison Document File, 1878 Folder: (D-78-02) Edison, T.A. – General) Francis Darwin Down [ …
From Asa Gray 4 August 1862
Summary
Gives J. T. Rothrock’s observations on the structure and fertility of the two forms of Houstonia. Mentions his own observations on Rhexia virginica and Gymnadenia tridentata.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Aug 1862 |
| Classmark: | DAR 110 (ser. 2): 67–9 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3679 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … pollen .020. x .017 Short-styled " .036 x .02 : in the fresh plants, but dry. Distended …
From T. L. Brunton 28 February 1874
Summary
Reports negative results of his experiments on digestion of chlorophyll by Drosera and by animals. [See Insectivorous plants, p. 126.]
Sends references for chondrin.
| Author: | Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Feb 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 47–8, DAR 160: 340 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9322 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … and water 2 ........... dogs stomach with dilute HCl .02% 3 ........... glycerine & water …
| Brunton, T. L. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (1) |
| Darwin, Francis | (1) |
| Gray, Asa | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Buckland, F. T. | (1) |
| Edison, T. A. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
| Brunton, T. L. | (1) |
| Buckland, F. T. | (1) |
| Darwin, Francis | (1) |
| Edison, T. A. | (1) |
Suggested reading
Summary
There is an extensive secondary literature on Darwin's life and work. Here are some suggested titles that focus Darwin’s correspondence, as well as scientific correspondence and letter-writing more generally. Collections of Darwin’s letters …
Matches: 1 hits
- … On Darwin’s correspondence: Browne, J. 1995–2002. Charles Darwin . 2 vols. London: …
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…
Matches: 4 hits
- … as ‘almost an essay’ and quoted at length in Descent 2: 117-8, to brief answers to a series of …
- … to ask a man to marry them is quoted in Descent 2: 374. Darwin seized on Reade as a valuable …
- … request, staining some of his pigeons magenta ( Descent 2: 118). Although the details of the …
- … again ’. Endnotes: * Descent 2: 403: ‘When the principles of breeding …
British Association meeting 1860
Summary
Several letters refer to events at the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Oxford, 26 June – 3 July 1860. Darwin had planned to attend the meeting but in the end was unable to. The most famous incident of the meeting was the verbal…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 1918, 1: 521–4); Charles Lyell (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, 2: 335–6); John Lubbock (Hutchinson 1914, 1: …
The Voyage of the Beagle
Summary
It was a letter from his friend and former teacher, John Stevens Henslow, that brought the 22-year-old Charles Darwin news of the offer of a place on board the Admiralty surveying vessel HMS Beagle on a voyage to chart the coast of South America. During…
Matches: 1 hits
- … him likewise as a gentleman . …The Voyage is to last 2 y rs . & if you take plenty of Books …
5873_1488
Summary
From B. J. Sulivan 13 February [1868]f1 Bournemouth Feby. 13. My dear Darwin As Mr Stirling has sent me the recpt. you may as well have it with the Photo of the four Fuegian boys which he wishes me to send you in case you have not seen it. He…
5935_4582
Summary
From J. D. Hooker 26[–7] February 1868KewFeby 26th/68Dear Darwin I have been bursting with impatience to hear what you would say of the Athenæum Review & who wrote it— I could not conceive who…
Alexander Burns Usborne
Summary
Alexander Burns Usborne was born in Kendal, Westmorland, in 1808, the son of Alexander and Margaret Usborne; his father died in 1818 and in his will was described as the purser on HMS Hannibal. His son joined the navy in 1825 aged 16 as a second-class…
William Yarrell
Summary
William Yarrell was a London businessman, a stationer and bookseller, who became an expert on British birds and fish, writing standard reference works on both. He was a member of several science and natural history societies, including the Linnean Society…
Matches: 1 hits
- … William Yarrell was a London businessman, a stationer and bookseller, who became an expert on …
Correlation of growth: deaf blue-eyed cats, pigs, and poison
Summary
As he was first developing his ideas, among the potential problems Darwin recognised with natural selection was how to account for developmental change that conferred no apparent advantage. He proposed a ‘mysterious law’ of ‘correlation of growth’ where…
Floral Dimorphism
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 5 hits
- … and corals by William Lonsdale ( Collected papers , 2). Darwin’s crustacean specimens, originally …
- … that he had printed and distributed ( Correspondence vol. 2, Appendix V). As P. J. Vorzimmer has …
- … his engagement (transcribed in Correspondence vol. 2, Appendix IV). During the same period he …
- … in an autobiographical fragment ( Correspondence vol. 2, Appendix III). The letters that Emma and …
- … been many thousands of years old. At the time when volume 2 of The Correspondence was published, …
Was Darwin an ecologist?
Summary
One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the experiments he performed at his home in Down, in the English county of Kent, seem to prefigure modern scientific work in ecology.
Matches: 3 hits
- … of existence.”’ (Ernst Haeckel, Generelle Morphologie 2: 286; translation from Stauffer 1957, p. 140 …
- … study to an ‘uncritical’ natural history (Haeckel 1866, 2: 286–7; see also Stauffer 1957, p. 141). …
- … die von Charles Darwin reformirte Descendenz-Theorie . 2 vols. Berlin: Georg Reimer. Haeckel, …
Biogeography
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Observations aboard the Beagle During his five year journey around the world on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin encountered many different landscapes and an enormous variety of flora and fauna. Some of his most…
6248A_20488
Summary
From Fritz Müllerf1 17 June 1868Itajahy, Sa. Catharina, Brazil,17. Juni 1868. .... . Sie werden schon aus meinem letzten Briefe ersehen haben, dass es mir sehr schmeichelhaft ist, wenn Sie meine…
Matches: 5 hits
- … of a second pair of maxillæ” (Gerstäcker). f12 2. The segmentation of the abdomen; “like …
- … to CD were written in English (see Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: 72 n.); most of them have not been found. …
- … included these in their original English form ( ibid. , 2: 72 n.). Where the original English …
- … the larva is aquatic (see Nicholson 1880, pp. 341–2). Ephemera : the mayfly genus, now in the …
- … to CD were written in English (see Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: 72 n.); most of them have not been found. …
Darwin on marriage
Summary
On 11 November 1838 Darwin wrote in his journal ‘The day of days!’. He had proposed to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, and been accepted; they were married on 29 January 1839. Darwin appears to have written these two notes weighing up the pros and cons of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … First note [after 7 April 1838][1] Work finished [2] If not marry | Travel. …
Black Venus
Summary
Sadiah Qureshi (University of Birmingham) on the film Vénus Noire (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2010) Sara Baartman has long been characterised as ‘Black Venus’, or ‘Vénus Noire’. The epithet encapsulates how her exploitation and objectification whilst alive…
Matches: 1 hits
- … contextualise discussions of contemporary female sexuality.[2] This conflation between the …
Elleparu (York Minster)
Summary
Elleparu was one of the Alakaluf, or canoe people from the western part of Tierra del Fuego. He was captured by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, in 1830 after one the small boats used for surveying the narrow inlets of the coast of Tierra del Fuego…
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
Matches: 3 hits
Abstract of Darwin’s theory
Summary
There are two extant versions of the abstract of Darwin’s theory of natural selection. One was sent to Asa Gray on 5 September 1857, enclosed with a letter of the same date (see Correspondence vol. 6, letter to Asa Gray, 5 September [1857] and enclosure).…
Matches: 4 hits
- … picking out, can do. Even Breeders have been astonished 2 at their own results. They can act on …
- … sheep good for carpet & another for cloth &c. 9 (2.) Now suppose there was a …
- … weight if cropped with several species of grasses than with 2 or 3 species. 34 Now every single …
- … are enclosed in square brackets in the manuscript. 2 The printed version reads: ‘astounded’ …
Variation under domestication
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A fascination with domestication Throughout his working life, Darwin retained an interest in the history, techniques, practices, and processes of domestication. Artificial selection, as practiced by plant and…
