To Asa Gray 24 March [1880]
Summary
Thanks for Megarrhiza seeds and information. Has been greatly interested by Megarrhiza germination.
Samuel Butler has attacked CD over Erasmus Darwin.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 24 Mar [1880] |
Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (130) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12545 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Gray had sent seeds of Megarrhiza with his letter of 11 March 1880 . …
- … by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Asa Gray, 11 March 1880 . …
- … Delphinium nudicaule (red larkspur); see letter from Asa Gray, 11 March 1880 and n. …
- … 2. See letter from Asa Gray, 11 March 1880 and nn. 4 and 5. Gray’s anonymous review of T. …
- … Nation , 4 March 1880, p. 182; see letter from Asa Gray, 11 March 1880 and n. 3. Samuel …
To Asa Gray 19 April [1865]
Summary
Congratulates AG on the "grand news of Richmond".
Still interested in dimorphism and would welcome new cases.
Working on Variation
and correcting proofs of Climbing plants.
Would like seed of AG’s dimorphic Plantago.
Cannot understand how the wind could fertilise reciprocally dimorphic flowers.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 19 Apr [1865] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (77) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4467 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … see, for example, Correspondence vol. 11, letters to Asa Gray , 26 June [1863] and 4 …
- … March [1862] , and Correspondence vol. 11, letters to Asa Gray , 2 January [1863] and 4 …
- … and letter from Asa Gray, 29 December 1862 , and Correspondence vol. 11, letter to …
- … 12 [April 1862] , Correspondence vol. 11, letter to W. E. Darwin, [5 May 1863] and n. …
- … herbarium is discussed in the letters from Asa Gray , 16 February 1864 and 11 July 1864 ( …
- … January 1865 and n. 11. CD mentioned Auguste Laugel in his letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 …
- … 11 May [1863] and n. 14). CD evidently did not obtain seeds of dimorphic Plantago from Gray (see letter …
To Asa Gray 28 May [1864]
Summary
Is slowly writing Lythrum paper [Collected papers 2: 106–31].
Thanks for [Charles?] Wright’s observations on orchids
– could he note what attracts insects to Begonia and Melastoma? H. Crüger, who was going to observe Melastomataceae, has died.
Describes the climbing habits of Bignonia capreolata and Eccremocarpus scaber.
How does AG know the perfect flowers of Voandzeia are quite sterile?
He has a case of dimorphism in holly; asks AG to report on American hollies.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 28 May [1864] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (79) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4511 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … see, for example, Correspondence vol. 11, letter to W. E. Darwin, [5 May 1863] and n. …
- … a review of it (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from Daniel Oliver, 27 November 1863 , …
- … to germinate (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from Asa Gray, 7 July 1863 , and letter …
- … due to visit him in July (see letter from Asa Gray, 11 July 1864 ). No letter from Wright …
- … or lichen-covered trees (see letter from Asa Gray, 11 July 1864 and n. 5, and ‘Climbing …
- … did not make this statement; see letter from Asa Gray, 11 July 1864 . Voandzeia is a genus …
- … Willis 1973 ). See also letter from Asa Gray, 11 July 1864 . For CD’s published discussion …
- … 4. See Correspondence vol. 11, enclosure to the letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 [November …
To Asa Gray 13 September [1864]
Summary
Has finished Climbing plants;
resuming work on Variation.
Sends abstract of John Scott’s paper [see 4332].
Has received review of Herbert Spencer but cannot believe AG wrote it unless he has muddled his brains with metaphysics.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 13 Sept [1864] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (89) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4611 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … Appendix VI, and Correspondence vol. 11, letter to T. H. Huxley, 10 January [1863] . CD …
- … October [1862] , and Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Asa Gray, 23 February [1863] and …
- … by the relationship between this letter and the letter from Asa Gray, 11 July 1864 . …
- … Letter from Asa Gray, 11 July 1864 . According to CD’s journal, the manuscript of ‘ …
- … of distinct individuals. See letter from John Scott, 7 January [1864] and n. 11. …
- … 1863] ( Correspondence vol. 11). See also letter from John Scott, 7 January [1864] . In …
- … with his letter of [26 July – 2 August 1863] ( Correspondence vol. 11), but his results …
- … 11, Appendix II, and this volume, Appendix II). CD began writing Variation in 1860 (see Correspondence vol. 8, Appendix II). The reference is to a review of Spencer 1864b ; the review was by Chauncey Wright ([Wright] 1864b). See letter …
To Asa Gray [after 11 October 1861]
Summary
Thanks AG for notes on hollies.
Replies to an argument for design. Feels it monstrous to consider orchids created as they are now seen, since every part reveals modification on modification.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | [after 11 Oct 1861] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (51a) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3283 |
To Asa Gray 25 February [1864]
Summary
Has not worked for six months due to illness.
Has been looking at climbing plants.
Hermann Crüger’s paper shows that CD was right about Catasetum pollination. Crüger’s account of pollination of Coryanthes "beats everything".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 25 Feb [1864] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (80) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4415 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … s recent work see Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Charles Lyell, 17 [February 1863] and …
- … see Correspondence vol. 11, Appendix II, and this volume, letter to J. D. Hooker, [20–] …
- … November 1863 ( Correspondence vol. 11). Gray’s letter of 16 February 1864 would not yet …
- … 17 February [1864] and n. 11. The most recent known letter from Asa Gray is that of 23 …
To Asa Gray 19 October [1865]
Summary
AG’s article on climbing plants [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 40 (1865): 273–82] is admirable and complimentary.
Reports Fritz Müller’s observations on climbers.
Experiments on dimorphism with Mitchella and Pulmonaria.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 19 Oct [1865] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (93) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4919 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … from John Scott (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from John Scott, [26 July – 2 August …
- … early in 1863 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter to Asa Gray, 2 January [1863] and n. …
- … and May 1864 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from W. E. Darwin, 8 May [1863] and …
- … in August 1865 (see letters from Fritz Müller , 12 August 1865 and n. 11, [12 and 31 …
To Asa Gray 20 April [1863]
Summary
Fears England and U. S. will drift into war; he and AG must "keep to Science".
Thanks for facts on Incas; regrets he has always avoided the case of man.
Has sent his Linum paper [Collected papers 2: 93–105].
Is it true that Ohio has legislated against marriage of cousins?
Can AG explain the invariable angles in phyllotaxy; are they the consequence of packing in the early bud?
Owen’s comments on heterogeny in the Athenæum [28 Mar 1863] have vexed W. B. Carpenter; CD has replied [Collected papers 2: 78–80].
Hopes AG will observe Gymnadenia; John Scott has been experimenting on its fertilisation.
Gives his observation on pollination of Cypripedium.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 20 Apr [1863] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (51) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4110 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … examined Campbell’s review. See letter from Asa Gray, 11 April 1863 . CD’s fear of war may …
- … Garden, Edinburgh ( R. Desmond 1994 ). See letter from John Scott, [1–11] April [1863] . …
- … See letter from John Scott, [1–11] April [1863] and n. 13. …
- … between this letter and the letters from Asa Gray , 22–30 March 1863 and 11 April 1863 . …
- … Letters from Asa Gray , 22–30 March 1863 and 11 April 1863 . In his letter to CD of 22– …
- … live specimens (see letter to Asa Gray, 2 January [1863] and n. 11). Experimental notes …
- … dated 26 March – 11 April 1863, are in DAR 108: 165 v. See also letter to Daniel Oliver, [ …
- … letter from Asa Gray, 22–30 March 1863 and nn. 5–7. CD evidently refers to notes he was making for Variation. A brief reference to humans appeared in Variation 2: 122–4. CD worked on a draft of the chapter in which these pages appeared from 1 April to 16 June 1863 (see ‘Journal’ ( Correspondence vol. 11, …
To Asa Gray 7 December 1870
Summary
Believes AG’s cases of incipient dimorphism are due to mere variability. Has found examples in Nolana and Amsinckia; believes such variation is the basis for the development of dimorphism. Was unaware of variations in Phlox.
Sensitivity of Drosera and Dionaea.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 7 Dec 1870 |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (90) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7388 |
To Asa Gray 11 May [1863]
Summary
CD despairs when men like AG and Lyell consider themselves incapable of judging on change of species by descent.
Is confused over phyllotaxy.
Has been looking at Plantago lanceolata.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 11 May [1863] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (59) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4153 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … III , between 6 and 13 May 1863. Letters from Asa Gray , 11 April 1863 , 13 April 1863 , …
- … Lyell, 6 March [1863] . See also letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 and n. 2, and …
- … Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 and n. 11. See also letter to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] . CD …
- … from G. H. Darwin, [before 11 May 1863]). See also letter from Asa Gray, 26 May 1863 . …
- … 11 May 1863]. These diagrams are in DAR 51: A8–32. This is known as a Fibonacci series, in which any term is the sum of the two preceding terms ( Chambers ). CD had recently begun a series of observations on phyllotaxy (see letter …
To Asa Gray 24 December [1859]
Summary
Thanks for AG’s Japan memoir [Mem. Am. Acad. Arts & Sci. 6 (1857–9): 377–452]. Does not think AG’s arguments for a warm post-glacial period are sufficient, but will not be sorry to be proved wrong.
Believes natural selection explains many classes of facts which repeated creation does not.
Writes of some responses to the Origin.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 24 Dec [1859] |
Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (46) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2599 |
To Asa Gray 29 October [1864]
Summary
Sends question [missing] for an ornithologist.
Is plodding on at Variation.
Has added to Climbing plants.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 29 Oct [1864] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (88) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4647 |
To Asa Gray 14 December [1860]
Summary
Encloses note from Huxley [see 3022], who would be grateful for Chauncey Wright’s review.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 14 Dec [1860] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (39) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3023 |
To Asa Gray 23[–4] July [1862]
Summary
AG’s orchid observations are admirable.
Owen has lectured on birds’ descending from one form.
French criticism of CD’s Primula paper.
Only AG has seen that Orchids was "a ""flank movement"" on the enemy".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 23[–4] July [1862] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (76) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3662 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … 1862 , and Correspondence vol. 9, letter from Asa Gray, 11 October 1861 . See letter from …
- … the details cited by CD (see letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 11 July [1862] , n. 7). …
- … comte de Buffon (see letter from Armand de Quatrefages, [after 11 July 1862] , n. 5) and …
- … s question, see the letter from Asa Gray, 22 September 1862 and n. 11. CD refers to the …
To Asa Gray 24 October 1879
Summary
Requests seeds of Ipomoea and Megarrhiza for observations on seedling growth.
Is rereading MS of Movement in plants.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 24 Oct 1879 |
Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (125) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12269 |
To Asa Gray 21 April [1862]
Summary
Is sending first half of orchid book.
Feels he is wrong about Melastoma.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 21 Apr [1862] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (65) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3513 |
To Asa Gray 23 [January 1861]
Summary
Is glad AG will publish [pamphlet of his reviews of Origin]. Insists on bearing the costs. Encloses list of institutions and individuals to whom he would send copies.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 23 [Jan 1861] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (12) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3050 |
To Asa Gray 20 March [1863]
Summary
Discusses the meaning of C. K. Sprengel’s term "dichogamy". Dichogamous plants are functionally monoecious; Primula is functionally dioecious.
Reports Hermann Crüger’s observations of Cattleya and of bees pollinating Catasetum. Crüger will observe Melastomataceae.
Has built a hothouse.
Fears Amsinckia cannot be dimorphic.
Ill health slows his work on Variation.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 20 Mar [1863] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (58) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-4053 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 9, letter from Asa Gray, 11 October 1861 , and Correspondence vol. …
- … Hooker, [15 March 1863] . See letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 . See also letter …
- … 11. Gray sent CD live specimens of the dimorphic plant Mitchella repens in December 1862, for use in crossing experiments (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter …
- … 11, Appendix II), CD wrote a draft of the section of Variation dealing with inheritance ( Variation 2: 1–84) between 23 January and 1 April 1863, noting: ‘took me 6 1 2 weeks time lost by illness & London’. Variation , which CD began writing early in 1860, was not published until 1868. The pamphlet has not been identified. Gray periodically sent CD American newspapers, although CD told Hooker that he never read them (see Correspondence vol. 10, letter …
To Asa Gray 2 January [1863]
Summary
Thanks AG for Cypripedium and Mitchella.
Plans to investigate pollination of Cypripedium.
Has finished Linum paper [Collected papers 2: 93–105].
Would welcome facts on "bud-variations".
Hears that Cinchona is dimorphic.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 2 Jan [1863] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (56) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3897 |
To Asa Gray 26[–7] November [1862]
Summary
Discusses AG’s article ["Dimorphism", Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 34 (1862): 419–20]. Does not like the terms "dioecio-dimorphism" or "precocious fertilisation". Discusses the separation of sexes in plants; cannot doubt that hermaphroditism is the aboriginal state.
Discusses AG’s observations on orchids and his review of Orchids [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 34 (1862): 138–51].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Asa Gray |
Date: | 26[–7] Nov [1862] |
Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (50) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3830 |
letter | (57) |
Darwin, C. R. | (56) |
Wright, Charles | (1) |
Gray, Asa | (57) |
Darwin, C. R. | (56) |
Wright, Charles | (1) |
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: 1 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … In March 1862, Heinrich Georg Bronn wrote to Darwin stating his intention to prepare a second …
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 …
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: 1 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 …
Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 1 hits
- … ‘My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, ‘is so nearly closed. . . What little more I …
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: 1 hits
- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations …
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants …
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 …
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … no little discovery of mine ever gave me so much pleasure as the making out the …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 …
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
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
Matches: 1 hits
- … Re: Design – performance version – 25 March 2007 – 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the …
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 …
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 …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …