CD memorandum [December 1855]
Summary
Requests skins of domestic breeds or races of poultry, pigeons, rabbits, cats, and dogs from any unfrequented region. [Attached is a list of people to whom CD has written for pigeon and poultry skins.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Unidentified |
Date: | [Dec 1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 206: 34–5 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1812 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … 65. See Correspondence vol. 6, letter from Richard Hill, 10 January 1857 . CD’s list was …
- … Correspondence vol. 6, letter from Peter Wallace, 10 September 1856 . See Correspondence …
- … 9 December 1855, but see also letters to G. H. K. Thwaites, 10 December 1855 , to C. A. …
- … Kelaart , both of Ceylon. See letter to G. H. K. Thwaites, 10 December 1855 . ‘s India’ …
To J. S. Henslow 10 November [1855]
Summary
Thanks for seeds. Feels "almost foiled" in his experiments on sea transport – has found few plants that float after more than a week’s immersion.
Sends a list of queries [see 1779] on hollyhocks to put to growers.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
Date: | 10 Nov [1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 93: A103–A105 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1778 |
To J. D. Hooker 18 [October 1855]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 18 [Oct 1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 146 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1742 |
To J. R. Crowe 9 November 1855
Summary
Thanks him for seeds used in immersion experiment.
Sends thanks to M. N. Blytt and says to tell him species names.
Mentions meeting Edward Sabine.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Rice Crowe |
Date: | 9 Nov 1855 |
Classmark: | Nasjonalbiblioteket (National Library of Norway), Oslo (Brevs. 66) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1777 |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle 13 November [1855]
Summary
Reports a case of charlock seeds that retained their vitality for at least eight or nine years. He suggests that their power of retaining vitality when buried in damp soil may be an element in preserving the species and therefore seeds may be specially endowed with this capacity, while the power of retaining vitality in dry, artificial conditions may be an indirect accidental quality of little or no use to the species.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
Date: | 13 Nov [1855] |
Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, no. 46, 17 November 1855, p. 758 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1780 |
To John Davy 25 March [1855]
Summary
Will forward JD’s paper to the Royal Society ["On the ova of salmon", Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. 146 (1856): 21–9].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Davy |
Date: | 25 Mar [1855] |
Classmark: | Royal Institution of Great Britain (Box XVII, 210) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1653 |
To G. R. Waterhouse 8 July [1855]
Summary
Asks GRW if there is any easy systematic work on Lepidoptera for his sons. Considers making out the names from descriptions fine practice for the intellect; mere collecting is idle work.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | George Robert Waterhouse |
Date: | 8 July [1855] |
Classmark: | McGill University Library, Department of Rare Books |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1713 |
To J. D. Hooker [23 November 1855]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | [23 Nov 1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 157 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1785 |
To J. D. Hooker 14 [August 1855]
Summary
When JDH goes to Germany, will he ask seed men if their marvellous true breeding lines are the result of selection.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 14 [Aug 1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 145 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1741 |
To J. S. Henslow 12 November 1855
Summary
Draft of queries on the varieties of hollyhocks. [To be transmitted to William Chater by JSH; probably enclosed with 1778.]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
Date: | 12 Nov 1855 |
Classmark: | DAR 206: 39 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1779 |
To J. D. Hooker 6 November [1855]
Summary
Naudin’s theory, in J. Decaisne’s review of Flora Indica, of subspecies descended from a single stock only adds to the confusion. John Lindley and M. J. Berkeley cut down species.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 6 Nov [1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 153 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1773 |
To Edgar Leopold Layard 9 December 1855
Summary
Is collecting facts for Variation; would be grateful for skins of local [Cape of Good Hope] breeds of pigeons, ducks, and poultry.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Edgar Leopold Layard |
Date: | 9 Dec 1855 |
Classmark: | Auckland Public Library (Grey collection GL D8 (3)) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1794 |
To J. D. Hooker 14 November [1855]
Summary
Candolle discusses social plants. CD devises criterion for showing sociability not inherent.
Bentham’s buried seed plan rejected.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 14 Nov [1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 155 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1781 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … Gazette , no. 45, 10 November 1855, pp. 739–40, (see letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle , 13 …
- … letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle , 13 November [1855]. Hooker apparently thought it was probable that the seeds had been strewn about by birds. George Bentham , who was working at Kew with Hooker, had suggested various experiments that could be performed in Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette , no. 45, 10 …
To J. W. Lubbock 15 [January 1855]
Summary
CD called on Baugh but found him adamant; he has already laid the case before the [Charity] Commissioners and if necessary will take it to a Court of Equity.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | John William Lubbock, 3d baronet |
Date: | 15 [Jan 1855] |
Classmark: | The Royal Society (LUB: D22) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1631 |
To Charles Lyell 10 January [1855]
Summary
Discusses views of Daniel Sharpe on foliation and cleavage. Recalls his own previous discussion [in South America].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
Date: | 10 Jan [1855] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.110) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1626 |
To J. D. Hooker 5 June [1855]
Summary
Seeds: worried they will turn into another barnacle job.
Studies plants colonising abandoned field.
Experiment on plant sleep movements.
CD objects to "Atlantis" because no evidence; does not affect species theory.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 5 June [1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 135 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1693 |
To J. D. Hooker 10 October [1855]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 10 Oct [1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 151 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1763 |
To H. N. Shaw, Secretary, Royal Geographical Society 25 December [1855]
Summary
Has followed correspondent’s useful suggestions of sources of information [on variation in domesticated animals in various regions of the globe].
Asks him to sound out [Mr Consul Brand?] about skinning some bird specimens for him.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Henry Norton Shaw |
Date: | 25 Dec [1855] |
Classmark: | Royal Geographical Society |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1800 |
To J. D. Hooker 15 [May 1855]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 15 [May 1855] |
Classmark: | DAR 114: 147 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1681 |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle 21 May [1855]
Summary
Reports on his experiments on action of sea-water on seeds and the bearing of his investigations on the theory of centres of creation and Edward Forbes’s theory of continental extensions to account for distribution of organic forms. CD’s experiments confirm germination powers were retained after 42 days’ immersion by seven out of eight kinds of seeds.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
Date: | 21 May [1855] |
Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, no. 21, 26 May 1855, pp. 356–7 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1684 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … Correspondence vol. 3, letters to J. D. Hooker, [13 March 1846] and 10 April [1846] , …
- … letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 April [1855] , in which CD asked Hooker to suggest appropriate seeds. There is a list in DAR 27.1 (ser. 7): 22 headed ‘Hooker’s Seeds’ which records the germination of seeds planted on 7 June after 28 days soaking in salt-water; the seeds must, therefore, have been first immersed on 10 …
letter | (28) |
Hooker, J. D. | (12) |
Gardeners’ Chronicle | (3) |
Henslow, J. S. | (2) |
Crowe, J. R. | (1) |
Davy, John | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (28) |
Hooker, J. D. | (12) |
Gardeners’ Chronicle | (3) |
Henslow, J. S. | (2) |
Crowe, J. R. | (1) |
Reading my roommate’s illustrious ancestor: To T. H. Huxley, 10 June 1868
Summary
My roommate at Harvard College was Tom Baum, now a Hollywood screenwriter. Tom’s full name is Thomas Henle Baum, his middle name a reference to a German physician ancestor for whom the ‘Loop of Henle’ in the kidney had been named. Other than this iconic…
Matches: 1 hits
- … My roommate at Harvard College was Tom Baum, now a Hollywood screenwriter. Tom’s full name is …
Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of The variation of animals and …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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, 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: 1 hits
- … In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began …
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 …
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 …
Schools Gallery: Using Darwin’s letters in the classroom
Summary
English| History| Science English Pupils in Cumbria lead the way Year 9 English pupils at Ulverston Victoria High School spent several weeks studying Darwin’s letters, including comparing sections from Darwin’s ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ to letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … English | History | Science English Pupils in Cumbria lead …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was …
Darwin's notes for his physician, 1865
Summary
On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher who had studied medicine in London and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher …
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 …
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: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s daughter Henrietta wrote the following journal entries in March and July 1871 in …
Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics
Summary
On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species , …
Was Darwin an ecologist?
Summary
One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the experiments he performed at his home in Down, in the English county of Kent, seem to prefigure modern scientific work in ecology.
Matches: 1 hits
- … I gave two seeds to a confounded old cock, but his gizzard ground them up; at least I cd. not …
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: 1 hits
- … On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that he ‘Began by Lyell’s advice writing …
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 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 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 …