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From R. W. Griffiths   December 1877

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Summary

A sheep-breeder friend has found that he can produce twins and triplets in his flock by "a sudden supply of improved feeding stuff" at time of conception. This would appear to remove the objection CD refers to in Descent that animals supplied with an excess of food become sterile.

Author:  Richard William Griffiths
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 165: 227
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11263

From R. F. Cooke   1 December 1877

Summary

Reprint of Origin will bring number to 19500 – so title-page may safely read "Twentieth Thousand".

Author:  Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  1 Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 171: 498
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11264

To G. J. Romanes   [1 and 2 December 1877]

Summary

Comments on GJR’s lecture on evolution.

Regrets failure of graft experiments.

Hopes GJR will not give up on Pangenesis. Mentions article by Gustav Jäger on Pangenesis.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  George John Romanes
Date:  1 and 2 Dec 1877
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.526)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11265

To W. D. Fox   2 December 1877

Summary

Working hard on physiology of plants.

His son George sees no reason to change his view on marriage of cousins.

George’s astronomical work is too deep for CD.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Darwin Fox
Date:  2 Dec 1877
Classmark:  Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 155)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11266

To Jacob Moleschott   [2 December 1877]

Summary

Is obliged to JAWM for the honour done in sending CD his Der Kreislauf des Lebens (1877).

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Jacobus Albertus Willebrordus (Jacob) Moleschott
Date:  [2 Dec 1877]
Classmark:  Laage 1980, p. 106
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11267A

From Sara Sedgwick Darwin   [3 December 1877]

Summary

Describes her and W. E. Darwin’s honeymoon.

Author:  Sara Sedgwick; Sara Darwin
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [3 Dec 1877]
Classmark:  DAR 210.5: 23
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11267F

To R. A. Vance   4 December 1877

Summary

Thanks RAV for valuable letter [11232]. CD too ignorant of anatomy to form a decided opinion, but is inclined to attribute spiral folds to reversion and the valves to partial abortion of the fold. Asks RAV to verify by examining lower intestine of an opossum for the structure. If missing he would hesitate to allude to reversion. If RAV can prove the nature of these remnants it would be a conclusion of much interest.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Reuben Aleshire Vance
Date:  4 Dec 1877
Classmark:  Cleveland Health Sciences Library
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11269

From Charles and Francis Darwin to G. J. Romanes   5 December 1877

Summary

Discusses planting onions for experiment.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin; Francis Darwin
Addressee:  George John Romanes
Date:  5 Dec 1877
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.527)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11270

From T. A. Edison   7 December 1877

Summary

Offers to send green insects that give off a powerful odour of napthalene.

Author:  Thomas Alva Edison
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  7 Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 163: 1
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11271

From John Michels   9 December 1877

Summary

Sends a drawing [missing] of alleged fossil man found in Colorado. JM is certain it is a hoax perpetrated by P. T. Barnum. It was designed to conform to CD’s well-known views of man’s ancestor.

Author:  John Michels
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  9 Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 171: 176
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11272

From A. W. Rimpau   10 December 1877

Summary

Sends his paper ["Die selbst-sterilität des Roggens", Landwirtsch. Jahrb. 6 (1877): 1073–6] on self-sterility in Secale cereale. AWR was wrong in claiming Beta vulgaris was perfectly self-sterile.

Reports results of crossing wheat varieties. In the first generation offspring are always uniform; some are intermediate, some resemble one parent. In the second generation, on the contrary, he got a diversity of parental and intermediate forms.

Author:  Arnold Dietrich Wilhelm (Wilhelm) Rimpau
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  10 Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 176: 159
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11273

To W. W. Bailey   10 December [1877]

Summary

"Many thanks for the specimens which will be very useful whenever a new Edition is required."

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Whitman Bailey
Date:  10 Dec [1877]
Classmark:  The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Manuscripts and Archives Division. (Alfred Williams Anthony collection: box 7, folder 10)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11274

To E. H. Sieveking   11 December 1877

Summary

Would like the letters from grandfather [Erasmus Darwin] to J. A. H. Reimarus to be published.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Edward Henry Sieveking
Date:  11 Dec 1877
Classmark:  American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.528)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11275

To R. F. Cooke   11 December [1877]

Summary

Sends corrected sheets of Cross and self-fertilisation. How many copies will be printed? Asks whether he is correct in thinking that he has not been paid for the July printing.

Plans to correct Forms of flowers when new edition is needed.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
Date:  11 Dec [1877]
Classmark:  National Library of Scotland (John Murray Archive) (Ms. 42152 ff. 297–8)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11276

To C. H. Merriam   [11 December 1877]

Summary

Thanks him for sending his Birds of Connecticut.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Clinton Hart Merriam
Date:  [11 Dec 1877]
Classmark:  Waverly Auctions (dealers) (9 March 1983)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11276A

From Francis Darwin to T. F. Cheeseman   12 December 1877

Summary

Writes for CD, thanking TFC for his pamphlet on Selliera. CD was so interested that he ventured to forward it to Nature for publication.

Author:  Francis Darwin
Addressee:  Thomas Frederick Cheeseman
Date:  12 Dec 1877
Classmark:  Auckland War Memorial Museum Library Tāmaki Paenga Hira (T. F. Cheeseman Papers MS 58)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11277

From R. F. Cooke   13 December 1877

Summary

Messrs Clowes will make CD’s corrections and adjust index of Cross and self-fertilisation. Of this work only 1500 copies have been printed. Edition is sold out and account is enclosed.

Of 500 copies of Climbing plants [2d ed.] printed in June 1876, 450 were still unsold as of June 1877.

Author:  Robert Francis Cooke; John Murray
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  13 Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 171: 499, DAR 210.11: 6
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11278

From M. T. Masters   [13 December 1877]

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Summary

Sends the name of a plant: Cotyledon stolonifera.

Author:  Maxwell Tylden Masters
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  [13 Dec 1877]
Classmark:  DAR 68: 6
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11279

From E. A. Greaves   14 December 1877

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Summary

Offers to sell CD a portrait of Dr Erasmus Darwin by Joseph Wright of Derby.

Author:  Elizabeth Anne Hadley; Elizabeth Anne Greaves
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  14 Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 165: 218
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11280

From Gaston de Saporta   16 December 1877

Summary

He has heard CD is about to be elected to the Académie des Sciences.

Cross and self-fertilisation, with its emphasis on insect pollination, helps explain the problem he has worked on for so long: i.e., the rapid diversification of angiosperms in the fossil record occurs in conjunction with the diversification of insects.

Author:  Louis Charles Joseph Gaston (Gaston) de Saporta, comte de Saporta
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  16 Dec 1877
Classmark:  DAR 177: 34
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-11281
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Lost in translation: From Auguste Forel, 12 November 1874

Summary

You receive a gift from your scientific hero Charles Darwin. It is a book that contains sections on your favourite topic—ants. If only you had paid attention when your mother tried to teach you English you might be able to read it. But you didn’t, and you…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … barely understand a word. Writing in French on 12 November 1874 to thank Darwin for the …

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: 9 hits

  • … Correspondence  vol. 10, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] and n. 13). Initially, …
  • … Stove [that is, cool hothouse]’ ( Correspondence  vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26[–7] March …
  • … of different temperatures’ (letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March [1869] ,  Calendar  no. 6661) …
  • … 100 yards’ to the greenhouses ( Correspondence  vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, [25 January …
  • … in mid-February (see letter from L. C. Treviranus, 12 February 1863 ). The second list is …
  • …       Anoectochilus argenteus  12 5 s . …
  • … punctatum. 11.  Mormodes aurantiaca 12.  ‘Anoectochilus argenteus 5 s .’ deleted in …
  • …     Bolbophyllum barbigerum 12  major     …
  • …  Ampelidae. 11.  Alloplectus chrysanthus. 12.  Bulbophyllum barbigerum. 13. …

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: 12 hits

  • … Seventy years old Darwin’s seventieth birthday on 12 February was a cause for international …
  • … and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ). The masters of …
  • … ). The botanist and schoolteacher Hermann Müller wrote on 12 February to wish Darwin a ‘long and …
  • … well, and with little fatigue’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 , and letter from Leonard …
  • … ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 12 July [1879] ). It was little …
  • … Thiselton-Dyer, 5 June 1879 , and letter to G. H. Darwin, 12 July 1879 ). Darwin’s final task …
  • … inn ‘ very comfortable’, but told Leonard Darwin on 12 August that there were ‘too many human …
  • … not to have come up when the Darwins lunched with him on 12 August (Darwin’s ‘Journal’). Nor did …
  • … the world. At the end of the year he was awarded a prize of 12,000 francs by the Turin Academy of …
  • … which greatly pleased Darwin ( letter from Grant Allen, 12 February 1879 ). One of Allen’s targets …
  • … engagement being made public ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 12 October 1879 ). Darwin’s response not …
  • … accurate in its treatment’ ( letter from Francis Galton, 12 November 1879 ). The comment that …

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: 11 hits

  • … (letters from George Cupples, 21 February 1874 and 12 March 1874 ); the material was …
  • … the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii; letters from T. N. Staley, 12 February 1874 and 20 February 1874 …
  • …  was published in November 1874 ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Though containing …
  • … print runs would be very good ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 12 November 1874 ). Darwin's …
  • … Review & in the same type’  ( letter from John Murray, 12 August 1874 ). George’s letter …
  • … he finally wrote a polite, very formal letter to Mivart on 12 January 1875 , refusing to hold any …
  • … & snugness’ ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October [1874] ).   More …
  • … vicar of Deptford ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October [1874] ), but to her …
  • … mechanism that Darwin agreed with ( letter to F. J. Cohn, 12 October 1874 ). Darwin’s American …
  • … bank with enormous tips to his ears ( letter from Asa Gray, 12 May 1874 ). The Manchester …
  • … excellent, & as clear as light’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 12 August [1874] ). Hooker …

1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait

Summary

< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … < Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more …

Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers

Summary

In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … made a small omission ’. Stephen’s reply on 12 January was flattering, reassuring, and …
  • … books being ‘a game of chance’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 12 April 1881 ). On 18 May he described …
  • … Darwin had difficulty in obtaining mature plants. On 12 April, he reported to Müller , ‘I have …
  • … to make me happy & contented,’ he told Wallace on 12 July , ‘but life has become very …
  • … fight’ (letters to J. D. Hooker, 6 August 1881 and 12 August 1881 ). Darwin may have …
  • … else’s judgment on the subject ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 12 July 1881 ). However, some requests …

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: 3 hits

  • … which I ought to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] ).  Drosera  was the …
  • … on it—root leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ). Darwin found …
  • … of November 1872 and sold quickly. He wrote to Hooker on 12 January [1873] , “Did I ever boast to …

Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments

Summary

1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … Hooker: ‘he is no common man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ). Two sexual …
  • … of the year, he wrote to Hooker ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] ): ‘my notions on …
  • … least 3 classes of dimorphism’ ( letter to Daniel Oliver, 12 [April 1862] ), and experimenting to …
  • … passed so miserable a nine months’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 12 September [1862] ). A family …
  • … ‘Botany is a new subject to me’ ( letter to John Scott, 12 November [1862] ), but, impressed by …
  • … into Tyndall’s ears’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10–12 November [1862] ). Another of Darwin’s …

German and Dutch photograph albums

Summary

Darwin Day 2018: To celebrate Darwin's 209th birthday, we present two lavishly produced albums of portrait photographs which Darwin received from continental admirers 141 years ago. These unusual gifts from Germany and the Netherlands are made…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … their generous sympathy. ( Letter to A. A. van Bemmelen, 12 February 1877 )  View the …

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…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … than insectivorous plants. As he confessed to Hooker on 12 December , ‘I have not felt so angry …
  • … from his family, he sent a curt note to Mivart on 12 January , breaking off all future …
  • … of a bill that was presented to the House of Commons on 12 May, one week after a rival bill based on …
  • … The author, Fritz Schultze, contacted Darwin himself on 12 June , describing the aims of his book …
  • … scientific Socy. has done in my time,’ he told Hooker on 12 December . ‘I wish that I knew what …

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: 3 hits

  • … on his sixty-ninth birthday ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 12 February [1878] ), Darwin reflected that …
  • … ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). On 12 September , Darwin wrote: ‘Bernard is as …
  • … The Swiss botanist Arnold Dodel-Port announced on 12 June 1878 the first issue of an atlas with …

Diagrams and drawings in letters

Summary

Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Rubiaceae  with enclosures containing bud samples,  12 May 1878 G. H. Darwin's …

Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts

Summary

At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of  Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to W. D. Fox, 12 December [1868] ). He may have resented the …
  • … he had studied in the early 1860s ( letter to W. C. Tait, 12 and 16 March 1869 ). This research …

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…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … speak of their own original researches’. He then added: 12 Very many other parts …
  • … was ‘unintentional’ ([Lubbock] 1863b, p. 214). 12. Letter from Hugh Falconer to John …
  • … Gesellschaft in Zürich  9 (1853–6): 65–100; 12 (1857–8): 111–56; 13 (1858–63): i–x; 14 (1858–63): 1 …

Darwin’s queries on expression

Summary

When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations more widely and composed a list of queries on human expression. A number of handwritten copies were sent out in 1867 (see, for example, letter to Fritz Muller…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … Haast, J.F.J. von 12 May - 2 June 1867 Christchurch, …
  • … Hagenauer, F.A. [12 Sept 1867] Lake Wellington, …
  • … Wedgwood, Sarah E to ED [30 March-12 April 1868] …
  • … Wilson, Samuel 12 Nov 1867 Longerenong, Wimmera, …

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: 2 hits

  • … ( Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November 1845] ). In the event, the …
  • … a young Balanus in this illformed little monster? Fig 12.— . . . It is manifest this curious little …

Cross and self fertilisation

Summary

The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom, published on 10 November 1876, was the result of a decade-long project to provide evidence for Darwin’s belief that ‘‘Nature thus tells us, in the most emphatic manner, that she abhors…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … offspring of English fertile plants’ ( To Fritz Müller, 12 May 1870 ). From a fairly early …
  • … if the book had not yet been released ( From Asa Gray, 12 October 1876 ). Darwin sent the sheets, …
  • … as being as faultless as your temper’ ( From Asa Gray, 12 November 1876 ). The book was …

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: 2 hits

  • … my telegram & I feared so to find from G. Lushingtons. 12 I think he  must  care—it can …
  • … parable of the talents see Matt. 25: 14–30. 12 Godfrey Lushington and Beatrice Ann …

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…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … selection might work in nature ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. 10 ). He was …
  • … first made in a letter written by Lyell from London on 1–2 May 1856. Darwin took the suggestion …
  • … whole Lamarckian doctrine.’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1–2 May 1856, n. 7 ). The excitement and …

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: 2 hits

  • … Lyell, [9 March 1841] To Charles Lyell, [12? March 1841] To William Fitton, …
  • … Chambers, 11 September 1847 To J.D. Hooker, [12? September 1847] To David …
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