Owen, Richard. 1863. Ape-origin of man as tested by the brain. Athenæum, 21 February 1863, pp. 262-3.
Matches: 1 hit
- … 262-3. https://archive.org/details/sim_athenaeum-uk_1863-02-21_1843/page/262/mode/2up 13 …
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 …
letter | (3) |
bibliography | (1) |
people | (1) |
Brunton, T. L. | (1) |
Darwin, Francis | (1) |
Gray, Asa | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
Edison, T. A. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
Brunton, T. L. | (1) |
Darwin, Francis | (1) |
Edison, T. A. | (1) |
Gray, Asa | (1) |
Historical documents in Commentary

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: 5 hits
- … Stoke’s Library 1 Cambridge. Library 2 Royal Coll of Surgeons [DAR *119 …
- … de l’Homme,” by Dr. Pierquin, published in Paris (in 2 vols.), so long ago as 1839 4 …
- … 1829]; read Letter to M. Therry [Broughton 1832]— a 2 d Edit preparing in 1841.— Lesson …
- … of habits of birds. Temminck Manuel D’ornithologie. 2 d Edit: Introduction on migration of …
- … Ker Porter’s Travels in Caucasus [R. K. Porter 1821–2] praised by Silliman poor Cyclop. of …
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…

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…
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
Matches: 7 hits
- … pamphlet was published in the Gardeners’ Chronicle on 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2, under the title …
- … (see the letter from Emma Darwin to William Erasmus Darwin, [2 September 1863] (DAR 219.1: 77), and …
- … ( Spectator , 6 January 1877, p. 15, and Emma Darwin 2: 200–1). While Emma Darwin …
- … , pp. 44, 54–5, 78, and Correspondence vol. 2, letter to W. D. Fox, 28 August [1837]). Later he …
- … the publication of Origin (Turner 1980, pp. 60–2, 124–128, Worster 1985, pp. 179–80, 184–7). …
- … seen a trap, and therefore I give a wood-cut of one. 2 The iron teeth shut …
- … in nineteenth-century England, see Turner 1980. 2 This sentence, and the woodcut of the …
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 …

Visiting the Darwins
Summary
'As for Mr Darwin, he is entirely fascinating…' In October 1868 Jane Gray and her husband spent several days as guests of the Darwins, and Jane wrote a charming account of the visit in a sixteen-page letter to her sister. She described Charles…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Complete text of the letter from Jane Gray to Susan Loring, 28 October – 2 November 1868: …
Darwin’s student booklist
Summary
In October 1825 Charles Darwin and his older brother, Erasmus, went to study medicine in Edinburgh, where their father, Robert Waring Darwin, had trained as a doctor in the 1780’s. Erasmus had already graduated from Cambridge and was continuing his studies…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Edinburgh.— Franklins Journal to the North. Pole. 2 Vol. 8 Vo. 1 Cochrane Travels …
- … & Poems 12 mo 10 Pennants Arctic Zoology 11 2 Vols 4to Several papers in the …
- … Philos Journal. 13 Bostocks Physiology 14 2 Vol 8 Vo. Cuviers theory of the …
- … & Granby 16 6 Vols 12. mo Henry Chemistry 17 2 Vols 8 Vo Sewards memoirs of …
- … 1826 for younger sons. 17 Henry 1823. Volume 2 is in the Darwin Library–CUL. 18 …

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 on childhood
Summary
On his engagement to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, in 1838, Darwin wrote down his recollections of his early childhood. Life. Written August–– 1838 My earliest recollection, the date of which I can approximately tell, and which must have been before…

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 death of Anne Elizabeth Darwin
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin’s eldest daughter, Annie, died at the age of ten in 1851. Emma was heavily pregnant with their fifth son, Horace, at the time and could not go with Charles when he took Annie to Malvern to consult the hydrotherapist, Dr Gully.…
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: 5 hits
- … let us consider–1. What the Darwinian doctrine is, and 2. How it is proved to be atheistic. Dr. …
- … case, events are brought about in the material world; and 2. That by the word ‘ natural ’ is meant …
- … or miraculous does to effect it for once. ’[VIII-2] So when Mr. Darwin makes such large and free …
- … Not to the original intention of the divine mind; 2. Not to special acts of creation calling new …
- … reference to the blind operation of natural causes; and, 2. That they were foreseen and purposed by …

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: 6 hits
- … hothouse plants drawn up by Darwin; these lists are in DAR 255: 8 and DAR 255: 2–5. The first is a …
- … Transcription: Hugh Low & Co. 1 — Cattell 2 will get me at prices below without …
- … Canna Warscewisii— 4 2.6 …
- … § Melastoma atropurpurea 6 2.6 …
- … §Allamanda & Dipladenia 2.6 or 3.6. …
- … London ( Post Office London directory 1863). 2. John Cattell was a florist, nurseryman …

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. …

Introduction to the Satire of FitzRoy's Narrative of the Voyages of the Adventure and Beagle
Summary
'a humble toadyish follower…': Not all pictures of Darwin during the Beagle voyage are flattering. Published here for the first time is a complete transcript of a satirical account of the Beagle’s brief visit in 1836 to the Cocos Keeling islands…
Matches: 1 hits
- … is indicated as [illeg] or, in the case of a phrase, [2 words illeg]. [ ] indicates …

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’ …
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: 3 hits

Review: The Origin of Species
Summary
- by Asa Gray THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION (American Journal of Science and Arts, March, 1860) This book is already exciting much attention. Two American editions are announced, through which it will become familiar to many…
Essay: Evolution & theology
Summary
—by Asa Gray EVOLUTION AND THEOLOGY The Nation, January 15, 1874 The attitude of theologians toward doctrines of evolution, from the nebular hypothesis down to ‘Darwinism,’ is no less worthy of consideration, and hardly less diverse, than that of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … a system throughout all its parts, prove design? and, 2. Is such evidence negatived or invalidated …