From G. H. Darwin 5 May 1879
Summary
Sends CD an article on Dr Erasmus Darwin [from Monthly Magazine, see 12028].
Tells of a "discovery" he has made about taking observations of the sun. Does not know yet whether it is new.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 May 1879 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 75 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12034 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … see Correspondence vol. 26, letter from G. J. Romanes, 17 August 1878 , letter to G. H. …
- … Darwin, 7 November 1878 , and letter to G. H. Darwin, 8 November [1878] . Edward Ball …
- … Darwin, 29 October [1878] and n. 3, letter from G. H. …
- … to G. H. Darwin, 26 June 1878 . George was hoping to find a letter to Thomas Okes from …
From G. H. Darwin 28 January 1878
Summary
Has been reading Samuel Haughton on geological time ["Notes on physical geology, no. III", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 26 (1877): 534–46]. It is utter rubbish. Asks whether CD thinks GHD should write a critical note on the subject [see Nature 17 (1878): 509–10].
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 28 Jan 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 65 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11336 |
From G. H. Darwin 7 November 1878
Summary
Encloses William Thomson’s report on GHD’s paper. Some of it was written in Rayleigh’s hand.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Nov 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 71, The Royal Society (RR/8/91) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11738 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … see also Kushner 1993 . Thomson’s letter of 2 November 1878 proposing Down as a possible …
- … to G. H. Darwin, 17 [August 1878] and n. 3, and letter to G. H. Darwin, 29 October [ …
- … 1878b (pp. 31–6). See letter to G. H. Darwin, 2 November [1878] and n. 2. CD had sent …
- … 1878, and was being prepared for publication in the society’s Philosophical Transactions . The referees’ copy of George’s paper was returned to Thomson on 13 December (MSS 421, Register of Papers 1853–1885, Archive, The Royal Society); it has not been found. The published paper included a remark by Rayleigh ( G. H. Darwin 1878b , p. 27 n. ). See also letter …
- … letter, Thomson wrote that on ‘the question of tidal viscosity on the obliquity of the ecliptic’, which the two men had discussed at a recent meeting, he now saw it perfectly and was glad to find George’s result confirmed (D6, Kelvin papers, Glasgow University Library). The subject is not discussed in the main body of G. H. Darwin 1878b , but is worked out at length in G. H. Darwin 1878d , which had been received by the Royal Society on 22 July 1878 …
From G. H. Darwin [before 11 July 1878]
Summary
Refers to Charles Lagrange, who is working on the same subject as GHD, but in a fundamentally different way.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 11 July 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 68 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11600 |
From G. H. Darwin 14 December 1878
Summary
Asks CD if he would screw himself up to inviting A. Newton to Down.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Dec 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 72 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11796 |
From G. H. Darwin [28 October 1877]
Summary
Writes again about arrangements for the honorary degree ceremony.
Has been working on tides, which he is almost certain have altered the obliquity of the ecliptic.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [28 Oct 1877] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 60–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11213 |
From G. H. Darwin 23 January 1882
Summary
Encloses letter from R. S. Ball [missing], who has placed reliance on Samuel Haughton’s wild speculations.
Has heard that J. Challis’s health is worse.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Jan 1882 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 104 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13640 |
From G. H. Darwin 12 July 1878
Summary
Sends drawings of specimens [of Thalia] CD requested.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 July 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 209.13: 14–15, DAR 210.2: 69 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11602 |
From G. H. Darwin 19 November 1880
Summary
Comments on CD’s book [Movement in plants].
Continues with his experiments with ripple-marks.
Is in despair about his astronomy.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 Nov 1880 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 87 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12828 |
From G. H. Darwin [before 9 May 1878]
Summary
Recounts some figures relating deaf-mutism and consanguineous marriages.
GHD has failed to be elected to the Royal Society.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 9 May 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 66 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11498 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … between this letter and the letter to G. H. Darwin, 9 May 1878 . József Kőrösy was the …
- … letter from George to Nature on the subject of consanguinity of parents of deaf children has been identified. George had first been proposed for fellowship of the Royal Society of London in November 1877. George’s name was put forward again on 7 March 1878, …
From G. H. Darwin [9 September 1881]
Summary
Has found the missing packet of forks, which he will send or take to Down.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [9 Sept 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 94 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13367 |
From G. H. Darwin 23 October 1877
Summary
Loss of water from leaf surfaces; action of a still air layer.
Proposal for CD’s LL.D.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 23 Oct 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 66 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11200 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … 1878 ). The University of Cambridge intended to confer an honorary degree of doctor of laws (LLD) on CD (see letter …
- … letter dated 24 and 25 October 1877, saying that he intended to visit Cambridge in a couple of weeks’ time (DAR 258: 864). Albert George Dew-Smith was an instrument maker who went into partnership with Horace Darwin in 1878 …
From G. H. Darwin [26 October 1875]
Summary
Has sent a copy [of his article on cousin marriage] to Hermann Müller.
Problem he is now working on is a tough nut: "It does not do what [James Clerk] Maxwell said it wd or ought to do".
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [26 Oct 1875] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 49 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10226 |
From G. H. Darwin 19 April 1877
Summary
Has heard CD is about to be proposed again for the Académie Française, but Huxley is proposed at the same time and may succeed against CD "as being more orthodox!"
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 Apr 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 57 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10933 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … letter from Armand de Quatrefages, 12 January 1872 ). CD was not elected to the académie until 5 August 1878, …
- … 1878): 245; see also Stebbins 1988 , pp. 147–9). Thomas Henry Huxley was never elected to the académie (see L. Huxley ed. 1900, 2: 472). The enclosure has not been found. Louisa Jane Galton had been ill but Galton reported she was convalescent and had started to go out a little in his letter …
From G. H. Darwin 3 March 1879
Summary
Thanks CD [for his increased allowance?].
Writes of his tour [in Algeria].
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Mar 1879 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 73 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11914 |
From G. H. Darwin 22 November 1877
Summary
Will look for worm-castings in the cloisters,
and will send CD items from the Cambridge papers on the honorary degree.
Has hit on a possible fallacy in W. Thomson’s theory of secular cooling of the earth.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 Nov 1877 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 62 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11247 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … 1878 ), see Cartwright 1999 , pp. 144–50. George Darwin’s Scientific papers vol. 2 contains his papers on the subject with a preface ( G. H. Darwin 1907–16 ). CD had visited Cambridge to receive an honorary LLD, staying from 16 to 19 November (CD’s ‘Journal’ (Appendix II)). See letter …
- … 1878–9): 379) and 1 May 1879 ( ibid. 29 (1879): 1); he was elected on 12 June 1879 ( Record of the Royal Society of London ). As well as those already mentioned in these footnotes, George refers to James Clerk Maxwell , Arthur Cayley , James Whitbread Lee Glaisher , and William Stanley Jevons ; all the men he named signed his proposal form (Royal Society archives, EC/1879/13). Robert Burn had been Francis Darwin’s tutor at Trinity College, Cambridge ( Correspondence vol. 13, letter …
From G. H. Darwin 13 July 1879
Summary
Sorry to hear Henrietta’s opinion of the [Erasmus Darwin] proofs. GHD did not think it dull. He makes some suggestions.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 July 1879 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 80 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12154 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter from Leonard Darwin, [before 12 July] 1879 ). The doggerel, a poem by Erasmus’s elder brother, Robert Waring Darwin , was not included in the published version; for the omitted text, see King-Hele ed. 2003 , p. 17. George probably refers to the final version of his paper ‘On the precession of a viscous spheroid, and on the remote history of the earth’ ( G. H. Darwin 1878 ), …
From G. H. Darwin 5 December 1874
Summary
Has finished the "cousin paper" and will offer it to W. Farr for the Statistical Society.
Describes other work in progress.
Has CD heard of A. M. Mayer’s curious work on audition of insects [Am. J. Sci. 3d ser. 8 (1874): 89–103?]
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 5 Dec 1874 |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 45 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9743 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1878 ). George’s defence of William Stanley Jevons’s Theory of political economy ( Jevons 1871 ) appeared in the Fortnightly Review in February 1875 ( G. H. Darwin 1875d ). John Venn . Henry Sidgwick . George had suggested using a paper he was writing on political economy as a lecture to the Royal Institution of Great Britain ( letter …
From G. H. Darwin [29 August 1881]
Summary
E. A. Darwin’s funeral arrangements.
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [29 Aug 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 91 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13303 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter to G. H. Darwin, [28 August 1881] ). The London agents were Paterson, Snow, & Bloxam of 25 Lincoln’s Inn Fields; the senior partner was William Benjamin Paterson ( Law list 1881). R. is probably Richard Buckley Litchfield . Erasmus Alvey Darwin was buried in the churchyard of St Mary’s in Down. Herries, Farquhar, Chapman & Co. were a London banking firm ( Post Office London directory 1878). …
From G. H. Darwin [7 September 1881]
Summary
Gives an account of the reception of his paper at York [BAAS meeting].
| Author: | George Howard Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [7 Sept 1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.2: 92 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13321 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1878). Erasmus Alvey Darwin had inherited properties in Lincolnshire from his father, Robert Waring Darwin , but it was unlikely they were part of the Cleatham estate because that had not been owned by the Darwin family since 1762 ( Worsley 2017 , pp. 40 and 71). William Thomson . William Erasmus Darwin was Erasmus Alvey Darwin’s other executor (see letter …
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: 1 hits
- … I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation …
Wearing his knowledge lightly: From Fritz Müller, 5 April 1878
Summary
Darwin received letters from so many people and wrote so many fascinating letters himself, that it’s hard to choose from many letters that stand out, but one of this editor’s favourites, that always brings a smile, is a letter from Fritz Müller written 5…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin received letters from so many people and wrote so many fascinating letters himself, that it …
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
- … Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have …
Power of movement in plants
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Family experiments Darwin was an active and engaged father during his children's youth, involving them in his experiments and even occasionally using them as observational subjects. When his children…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Family experiments Darwin …
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
Photograph album of German and Austrian scientists
Summary
The album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil Rade, and contained 165 portraits of German and Austrian scientists. The work was lavishly produced and bound in blue velvet with metal embossing. Its ornate…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil …
3.8 Leonard Darwin, interior photo
Summary
< Back to Introduction Leonard Darwin, who created the distinctive image of his father sitting on the verandah at Down House, also portrayed him as a melancholy philosopher. His head, brightly lit from above, emerges from the enveloping darkness; he…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Leonard Darwin, who created the distinctive image of his …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
Movement in Plants
Summary
The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical …
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: 1 hits
- … The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It …
Dining at Down House
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's …
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
- … There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website. The full texts of …
Darwin’s Photographic Portraits
Summary
Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in Man and Animal, but can be witnessed in his many photographic portraits and in the extensive portrait correspondence that…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin was a photography enthusiast. This is evident not only in his use of photography for the …
1.13 Louisa Nash, drawing
Summary
< Back to Introduction This sketch portrait of Darwin was drawn by Louisa A‘hmuty Nash as a memento of her friendship with the Darwin family and a token of her unbounded admiration and affection for Darwin himself. She and her husband, the lawyer…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction This sketch portrait of Darwin was drawn by Louisa A‘hmuty …
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: 1 hits
- … The effects of cross and self fertilisation in the vegetable kingdom , published on 10 November …
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
2.23 Hope Pinker statue, Oxford Museum
Summary
< Back to Introduction Henry Richard Hope Pinker’s life-size statue of Darwin was installed in the Oxford University Museum on 14 June 1899. It was the latest in a series of statues of great scientific thinkers, the ‘Founders and Improvers of Natural…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Henry Richard Hope Pinker’s life-size statue of Darwin was …
3.14 Julia Margaret Cameron, photos
Summary
< Back to Introduction In the summer of 1868 Darwin took a holiday on the Isle of Wight with his immediate family, his brother Erasmus, and his friend Joseph Hooker. The family’s accommodation at Freshwater was rented from the photographer Julia…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In the summer of 1868 Darwin took a holiday on the Isle of …
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
Summary
George Eliot was the pen name of celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She was born on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire and was educated at boarding schools from the age of five until she was 16. Her education ended when she…
Matches: 1 hits
- … George Eliot was the pen name of the celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She …
'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: 1 hits
- … The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma …
