To J. D. Hooker [10–]12 November [1862]
Summary
So JDH did write the Gardeners’ Chronicle review [of Orchids]! CD guessed it from the little slap at R. Brown.
Dawson’s lecture has nothing new. Absurd to assume Greenland under water during whole of glacial period. Suggests absence of certain plants in Greenland due to seeds not surviving in sea-water. Suggests an experiment on vitality in sea-water of plants that might be in Greenland. Is more willing to admit a Norway–Greenland land connection than most other cases.
Urges JDH to warn Tyndall on his glacial theory of valleys in Switzerland.
Is working on cultivated plants.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [10–]12 Nov [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 169 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3801 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … To J. D. Hooker [10–]12 November [1862] …
- … DAR 115: 169 Charles Robert Darwin Down [10–]12 Nov [1862] Joseph Dalton Hooker …
- … Down Bromley Kent Nov 12 th . My dear Hooker What a long & interesting letter you have …
- … th ’, but later deleted the date and wrote ‘12 th ’; the text of the letter confirms that …
- … and CD’s abstracts of the journal are in DAR 75: 1–12. Dawson 1862a . See letter from J. …
- … D. Hooker, 7 November 1862 and n. 12. See letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 November 1862 …
To J. D. Hooker 12 [December 1862]
Summary
Maintains his view on crossing. Thinks practical breeders would agree with him; doubts that variability and domestication are at all necessarily correlative.
Identical plants in different conditions a heavy argument against "direct action" [of physical conditions].
His 1000-pigeon case is altered if long-beaked are in least degree sterile with short-beaked.
His work on dimorphism inclines him to believe that sterility is at first a selected quality to keep incipient species distinct.
Case of easy modification of Lythrum pollen to favour or prevent crossing.
Monsters.
Has just finished chapter on variations of cultivated plants.
Edinburgh doctors have sent him Diploma of Medical Society.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 12 [Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 176 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3855 |
To J. D. Hooker 14 [October 1862]
Summary
Thanks for Aldrovanda reference and Cassia.
Has wasted labour on Melastomataceae without getting a glimpse of the meaning of the parts.
Wants seeds, from their native land, of Heterocentron or Monochaetum.
Is beginning to change his view about rarity of natural hybrids.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 14 [Oct 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 166 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3762 |
Matches: 7 hits
- … Letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 October 1862] . The first part of the first volume of …
- … parts (see letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 October 1862] and n. 4, and letter to Daniel …
- … 1862] . See letter from J. D. Hooker [12 October 1862] , and letter to J. D. Hooker, …
- … p. 321. See letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 October 1862] and n. 2. CD’s note has not …
- … 1862] . See letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 October 1862] and n. 5. In a note dated 14 …
- … 48: 49 v. See letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 October 1862] and n. 18. In October 1861, …
- … n. 14. See letter from J. D. Hooker, [12 October 1862] and n. 11. CD was keen to test …
To J. D. Hooker 18 [November 1862]
Summary
A German scholar says JDH first applied natural selection to replacement of races of men, the ruder races of Polynesians yielding to civilised Europeans. CD cannot remember reading this.
Warns JDH to take care Welwitschia does not turn into a case of barnacles and consume years instead of months.
In what months do flowers appear in Acropera loddigesia and A. luteola? CD is alarmed by John Scott’s observations on them, which differ from his own. "I am very uneasy."
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 18 [Nov 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 170 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3812 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … 1836 . See letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 November 1862 and n. 5. Samuel Haughton . See …
- … 1862] , and letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 November 1862 . CD refers to Richard Francis …
- … Gustav Mann . See letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 November 1862 and nn. 7 and 8. Büchner …
- … from J. D. Hooker, 20 August 1862 and n. 12. CD wished to compare a seed-capsule of …
To J. D. Hooker 24 [November 1862]
Summary
Sends Asa Gray letter: "nearly as mad as ever in our English eyes".
Bates’s paper is admirable. The act of segregation of varieties into species was never so plainly brought forth.
CD is a little sorry that his present work is leading him to believe rather more in the direct action of physical conditions. Regrets it because it lessens the glory of natural selection and is so confoundedly doubtful.
JDH laid too much stress on importance of crossing with respect to origin of species; but certainly it is important in keeping forms stable.
If only Owen could be excluded from Council of Royal Society Falconer would be good to put in. CD must come down to London to see what he can do.
Falconer’s article in Journal of the Geological Society [18 (1862): 348–69] shows him coming round on permanence of species, but he does not like natural selection.
Sends Lythrum salicaria diagram.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 24 [Nov 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 173, 279b; Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Hooker letters 2: 46 JDH/2/1/2) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3822 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … D. Hooker, 27 [October 1862] and nn. 11 and 12, letter to W. E. Darwin, 4 [November …
- … 1862] , and letter to J. D. Hooker, [10–]12 November [1862] ). The opening sentence ( …
- … J. D. Hooker] 1862c appeared (see DAR 222 and DAR 75: 1–12). See letter from J. D. …
- … 15 and] 20 November [1862] and nn. 10 and 12. Richard Owen was elected to the council of …
- … Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 12: 299). Hugh Falconer . See letter from J. …
- … also ibid. , letter to J. D. Hooker, [10–]12 November [1862] . CD sent similar diagrams …
To J. D. Hooker [21 December 1862]
Summary
Thanks for Begonia and Oxalis.
Keeps obstinate about crossing and could argue till doomsday, but will not bother JDH.
Sees that JDH has finished Welwitschia.
Thinks Huxley’s Working Men’s Lectures excellent.
Has finished Linum paper [Collected papers 2: 93–105],
and abstract of Bates’s paper for Natural History Review,
and has begun to arrange concluding chapters [for Variation]. Is paralysed on how to begin.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [21 Dec 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 174 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3871 |
To J. D. Hooker [after 26] November [1862]
Summary
Discusses differences between Asa Gray’s view and his own on crossing. A common effect is the obliteration of incipient varieties. There is heavy evidence against new characters arising from crossing wild forms, "only intermediate races are then produced". Innate vital forces are somehow led to act differently as a result of direct effect of physical conditions. Astonished by JDH’s statement that every difference might have occurred without selection. CD agrees, but JDH’s manner of putting it astonished him. CD says, "think of each of a thousand seeds bringing forth its plant, and then each a thousand … I cannot even grapple with idea". Responds to JDH’s and Lyell’s feeling that he made too much of a deus ex machina out of natural selection. [Letter actually dated 20 Nov but is certainly after 3831.] [wrong field?]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [after 26] Nov [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 172 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3834 |
To J. D. Hooker 14 March [1862]
Summary
Thinks JDH is a bit hard on Asa Gray.
Bates’s letter is that of a true thinker. Asks to see JDH’s to Bates. Point raised in it is most difficult. "There is one clear line of distinction; – when many parts of structure as in woodpecker show distinct adaptation to external bodies, it is preposterous to attribute them to effect of climate etc. – but when a single point, alone, as a hooked seed, it is conceivable that it may thus have arisen." His study of orchids shows nearly all parts of the flower co-adapted for fertilisation by insects and therefore the result of natural selection. Mormodes ignea "is a prodigy of adaptation".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 14 Mar [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 150 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3472 |
To J. D. Hooker [18 September 1862]
Summary
Thanks for JDH’s letter [3725].
Has become interested in experimenting on Drosera.
Observations on the ovaria of Cruciferae.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [18 Sept 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 160 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3729 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … to Daniel Oliver, [17 September 1862] and n. 12. Letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 September [ …
To J. D. Hooker 26 July [1862]
Summary
Illness of his son [Leonard]. Has done no work for weeks.
JDH’s hybrid orchids are interesting; CD is surprised many hybrids are not produced.
George [Darwin] caught a moth sucking Gymnadenia conopsea with a pollen-mass of Habenaria bifolia sticking to it.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 26 July [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 159 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3666 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. …
To J. D. Hooker 3 November [1862]
Summary
Requests reference to Jules Planchon’s monograph on Linum [Lond. J. Bot. 6 (1847): 588–603; 7 (1848): 165–86, 473–501, 507–28].
Sends list of seeds, including Oxalis, Boraginaceae especially Alkanna.
Asa Gray says JDH wrote reviews of Orchids in Gardeners’ Chronicle.
His experiments amuse him after dull day’s work on vegetables and fruit-trees.
Leschenaultia formosa has exterior stigma, thus eminently requiring insect aid, and thus ensuring crossing almost inevitably.
Asks whether Samuel Haughton at Dublin who made important medical discovery could be the same who reviewed Origin so hostilely [in Nat. Hist. Rev. 7 (1860): 23–32]; if so, he can sneer at and abuse CD to his heart’s content.
Asa Gray as rabid as ever [on Civil War].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 3 Nov [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 171 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3793 |
To J. D. Hooker 1 May [1862]
Summary
Asks JDH to look at stigma of Leschenaultia biloba; it seems certain there is no stigma within the bud. Case would be important.
Singular case of peculiar structure now remodified into the functional condition of a Campanula.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 1 May [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 153 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3529 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Correspondence vol. 8, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 March [1860] and n. 1). L. formosa …
To J. D. Hooker 23 June [1862]
Summary
Has been ill (violent skin inflammation).
Has done hardly anything except tend to his experiments. Repeating Primula work has verified former results and very curious facts on sterility of homomorphic seedlings.
Wonders who reviewed Orchids for London Review & Wkly J. Polit..
Asa Gray also infatuated with Orchids.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 23 June [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 156 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3620 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Darwin had been sent home from school on 12 June 1862 suffering from scarlet fever (see …
To J. D. Hooker 25 [and 26] January [1862]
Summary
His answer to Asa Gray.
On JDH’s view of aristocracy. Primogeniture is dreadfully opposed to selection.
Orchid book proofs ready soon – has no idea whether it is worth publishing.
Huxley on Owen.
Feeble letter from J. H. Balfour against Huxley’s lectures ["Relation of man to lower animals", pt 2 of Man’s place in nature (1863)].
Has received the "astounding" Angraecum sesquipedale with nectary 1ft long: "what insect could suck it?"
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 25 [and 26] Jan [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 141 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3411 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Edited by James A. H. Murray, et al. 12 vols. and supplement. Oxford: Clarendon Press. …
To J. D. Hooker 26 September [1862]
Summary
Encloses MS on observations and experiments on Drosera. JDH’s opinion will help him decide whether to pursue subject in some future year.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 26 Sept [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 60.2: 88, DAR 115: 163 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3738 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … to Daniel Oliver, [17 September 1862] and n. 12. See enclosure. CD did not again work …
To J. D. Hooker 30 May [1862]
Summary
Has received Melastoma and Vanilla.
Has seen again the two sets of plants of Heterocentron raised from two lots of pollen from same flower – a marvellous difference in stature.
"But oh Lord what will become of my book on variation: I am involved in a multiplicity of experiments."
Observations on Viola.
CD’s fancied dimorphism of Oxalis is all a confounded mistake; only great variability in length of pistils.
Found Henslow’s life [L. Jenyns, Memoir of the Rev. J. S. Henslow (1862)] interesting but fears the public will think it dull.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 30 May [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 152 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3575 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1862 ). See also letters to Daniel Oliver , 12 [April 1862] and 15 April [1862] . There …
To J. D. Hooker 11 June [1862]
Summary
Sorry to hear of Mrs Hooker’s health and domestic problems. Wishes natural selection had produced neuters who would not flirt or marry.
Will be eager to hear Cameroon results.
Wishes JDH would discuss the "mundane glacial period". Still believes it will be "the turning point of all recent geographical distribution".
Pollen placed for 65 hours on apparent (CD still thinks real) stigma of Leschenaultia has not protruded a vestige of a tube.
"Oliver the omniscient" has produced an article in Botanische Zeitung with accurate account of all CD saw in Viola.
Asa Gray’s "red-hot" praise of Orchids [Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 34 (1862): 138–51].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 11 June [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 155 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3597 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Horace Darwin were in Southampton from 3 to 12 June 1862 ( Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242); …
To J. D. Hooker 27 [October 1862]
Summary
Masdevallia turns out to be nothing wonderful, "I was merely stupid about it."
Asks for plants for experiments.
Hedysarum and Oxalis sensitiva seeds.
Asks whether Oliver knows of experiments on absorption of poisons by roots.
CD finds he cannot publish this year on Lythrum salicaria; he must make 126 additional crosses!
Asks for odd variations of common potato; he wants to grow a few plants of every variety.
Variation is crawling.
Has had some bad attacks lately.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 27 [Oct 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 167 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3784 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Daniel Oliver, 13 October [1862] and n. 12. CD had carried out ninety-four crosses with …
To J. D. Hooker 22 [August 1862]
Summary
Lythrum. Wants to examine fresh flowers of Lythraceae. Lythrum salicaria has interested him very much.
Microscopes.
Asks whether JDH can think of plants that have different coloured anthers or pollen in same flowers (as in Melastoma) or on same and in different plants as in Lythrum. Would be a safe guide to dimorphism.
Observation of action of pollen in Linum grandiflorum.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 22 [Aug 1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 162 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3696 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … J. D. Hooker, 20 August 1862 and n. 12. See letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 August …
To J. D. Hooker 4 November [1862]
Summary
Cannot see how J. W. Dawson can accuse JDH of asserting a subsidence of Arctic America. Much of evidence for subsidence during glacial period will prove false as it largely rests on ice action which is more and more viewed as subaerial.
Dawson is biased against Darwinism.
Suggests Greenland may have been repopulated after glacial period extinguished flora, by migration in sea-currents.
Max Müller’s view of origin of language is weakest part of his book [see 3752].
Would like to examine the rare Cypripedium hirsutissimum.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 4 Nov [1862] |
Classmark: | DAR 115: 168 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3795 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … of cultivated plants’ ( Variation 1: 306–12). CD countered the arguments of some botanists …
letter | (20) |
Darwin, C. R. | (20) |
Darwin, C. R. | (20) |
Hooker, J. D. | (20) |
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
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
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…
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…
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…
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…
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
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…
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…
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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…