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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: 20 hits
- … I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation …
- … to Francis’s son Bernard, occasionally comparing the mental faculties of the two-year-old with those …
- … on religion, selective breeding for human improvement, and the role of natural selection as an agent …
- … reward for his lifetime of dedication to science. ‘This is the oddest thing that ever happened to me …
- … scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). Writing to Ernst Haeckel on …
- … points.’ ‘To you & others’, he added, ‘must be left the extending & fortifying the …
- … systematic study of plant movement in 1877, concentrating on the motion of leaves in response to …
- … plants.’ Movement in plants In the spring of 1878, Darwin started to focus on the …
- … come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). While Darwin was studying the …
- … of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] ). Having found plants responsive to …
- … at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). Son abroad Darwin’s …
- … kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June [1878] ). While Francis was away, Darwin …
- … work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] ). Two weeks later he wrote: ‘I …
- … to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). It is unclear why the …
- … reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July 1878] ): ‘The oats have only just begun to …
- … Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July 1878] ), ‘a strong horizontal axis …
- … rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] ). One day Francis observed that the …
- … out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July 1878] ). Sachs’s confidence was apparently …
- … him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878] ). ‘Sachs doesn’t consider that …
- … In August, Darwin learned that, after rejecting him five times in succession, the Académie des …
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: 11 hits
- … smile, is a letter from Fritz Müller written 5 April 1878 . Müller was a German naturalist …
- … completed studies for a medical degree, but refused to take the required oath that would have …
- … life in Blumenau was challenging, Müller flourished in the vast natural laboratory of Santa Catarina …
- … to his own. In short, Darwin and Müller were very much on the same wavelength in their approach to …
- … on Brazilian entomology. These were forwarded by Darwin to the Entomological Society of London and …
- … Darwin had not explained why he wanted Müller to make the observations, but Müller seems to have …
- … to being pelted by rain. Müller recorded his observations: the leaflets were insensible to all but a …
- … food plants for different species. Based on his knowledge of the food plants of three butterfly …
- … in that subfamily. Although each was from a different genus, the caterpillars were so similar, …
- … could see they were all dying. It then occurred to him that the mother had laid her eggs on the …
- … service, so that his copies of Nature arrived at random times and out of sequence. He also …
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: 11 hits
- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work …
- … he was away from home. Although Darwin lacked a state of the art research institute and assistants, …
- … ‘One general law or system’ In the early 1860s, at a time when his health was …
- … son Francis worked in this laboratory in the summers of 1878 and 1879, he encountered some of the …
- … in plants (the change in the position of leaves at different times of day) along with mechanical …
- … Movement in plants , p. 179. In May 1878, Darwin had pointed out the importance of …
- … his experiments on the function of bloom. By December 1878, Darwin was thinking about the …
- … accuracy ( letter from J. D. Cooper, 13 December 1878 ). The method would be expensive, so Darwin …
- … heartened by an anonymous but favourable review in The Times and told Cooke, ‘ I wonder who in …
- … so much as I expected. Murray has sold 800 copies. The Times ought to help’ and repeated his advice, …
- … to exclaim to his son George, ‘ Hurrah for the old bloody Times, Murray says 500 copies urgently …
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: 10 hits
- … Hope Pinker’s life-size statue of Darwin was installed in the Oxford University Museum on 14 June …
- … Darwin’s theories from Bishop Wilberforce’s attack, in the famous BAAS meeting of 1860. After Hooker …
- … inspiration to generations of Oxford students. The statues and busts of scientists in the …
- … in entomological study. More importantly, Poulton was the leading Darwinian among Oxford biologists: …
- … theories, and exemplified them through his arrangement of the Hope collection. He contributed a book …
- … lap. It compensated him for the rebuff he had received in 1878, when his proposal to create a bust …
- … interior of the museum, where the hallowed sages of past times, such as Euclid, Aristotle, Galileo, …
- … from William Darwin to his father Charles Darwin, 10 July [1878], in The Correspondence of Charles …
- … (15 June 1899), p. 4. ‘A Darwin statue at Oxford’, Times (15 June 1899), pp. 7 and 9. ‘Unveiling …
- … intelligence . . . Prof. Poulton on Darwinism’, Times (13 Feb. 1909), p. 9. Horace Middleton …
'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: 6 hits
- … The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was …
- … letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against …
- … [1863], and 8 December [1863]). Emma sent a copy to the Bromley Record , which published the …
- … Horticultural Gardens, South Kensington, in June 1864 ( The Times , 27 May 1864, p. 11, and 28 May …
- … 1854 to 1861, in 1863 and 1864, from 1871 to 1875, and in 1878 and 1880 (CD’s Classed account books …
- … gentleman, who, last summer witnessed the painful sight many times. 4 “I know of …
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: 10 hits
- … The story of Charles Darwin’s involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It …
- … beliefs and uncertainties, was determined to support the church as a social institution. His …
- … Darwin and his family had a lifetime involvement with the Church of England, and various dissenting …
- … Charles and his older brother Erasmus were christened in the Church of England as young boys, and …
- … that institution (Autobiography 75). A nominal adherence to the Anglican Church’s teachings was …
- … degree was often crucial, in turn, in securing a position in the most prestigious professions. As a …
- … paid enough to support even a small family in comfort, and the possession of an independent income …
- … The Darwin family took an interest in, and even at times supported, the work of Non-conformist …
- … a high opinion of Darwin’s character that he claimed in 1878 to have made the following declaration …
- … of himself. Letter from J. B. Innes, 1 December 1878 This was a stirring …
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: 15 hits
- … This is evident not only in his use of photography for the study of Expression and Emotions in …
- … intermediary for Darwin and his correspondents from around the globe in their exchange of carte-de …
- … of friends and relatives was not a pursuit unique to Darwin (the exchange of photographic images was …
- … When Darwin sent his photograph to a close ally, such as the Harvard botanist Asa Gray , or when …
- … of esteem by a colleague, such as Daniel Oliver at Kew, the image became more than just a physical …
- … Portraits Darwin sat for his portrait numerous times throughout his life. The people standing …
- … many more exposures taken during these sessions – as was the fallibility of the camera and artist …
- … first photo-chemical experience occurred three years after the invention of photography itself. This …
- … Jacque Mandé Daguerre and Nicéphore Niépce – which is the product of exposing a light sensitive …
- … in terms of Darwin’s collection of photographs – it is the only Daguerreotype Darwin is known to …
- … an object of display placed on a Darwin family mantlepiece. The image shows the familial side of …
- … in popularity thanks to his account of his journey on the Beagle and his two volumes of …
- … men, sold on subscription. While this image is notable as the first popular image of Darwin, the …
- … than a postman’s bag. Image: Charles Darwin, 1878, Leonard Darwin, Dar 225:119, ©Cambridge …
- … on a wicker chair. Image: Charles Darwin, 1878, Leonard Darwin, Dar 225:1, ©Cambridge …
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: 10 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In the summer of 1868 Darwin took a holiday on the Isle of …
- … as classic works. In that year Hooker was President of the British Association for the Advancement …
- … of Darwin, would represent a public victory for the champions of evolutionary theory, such as to …
- … to do its duty towards them in recording faithfully the greatness of the inner as well as the …
- … was celebrated as an abstract quality that transcended the particularities of different fields of …
- … – important leaders of cultivated taste and opinion. The distaste of the professional photographic …
- … of photogravures from Cameron’s portraits that included the one of Darwin, thought that ‘Something …
- … of this self-consciously artistic milieu. Nevertheless, the family must have foreseen that Cameron’s …
- … William Darwin, letter to his father, 10 July [1878], asking him to autograph the mounts of two …
- … (DCP-LETT-11597F). ‘Professor Haeckel on Darwin’ in Times (28 Sept. 1882), p. 6. Francis 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: 14 hits
- … reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time …
- … on his recent studies in plant physiology, he investigated the reactive properties of roots and the …
- … he was busy engaging with readers on Earthworms , the relationship between science and art, and …
- … and by early April, he was being carried upstairs with the aid of a special chair. The end came on …
- … a campaign for Darwin to have greater public recognition. In the end, his body was laid to rest in …
- … had long been Darwin’s greatest scientific pleasure. The year opened with an exchange with one of …
- … One line of research was new: ‘I have been working at the effects of Carbonate of Ammonia on roots,’ …
- … and ‘Action of carbonate of ammonia on roots’, read at the Linnean Society of London on 6 and 16 …
- … had been sent details of experiments performed in Brazil by the politician and farmer Ignacio …
- … of the book, including a high-profile article in The Times . Darwin sent him a copy of the second …
- … experiments. Francis went to Germany in the summer of 1878 for more experience in physiological …
- … this to you’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [1 August 1878] ). The last years also saw Darwin …
- … and Earthworms , pp. 221–8). Darwin resumed contact in 1878. On receiving Darwin’s letter, …
- … at wormbs”’ ( letter from Mary Johnson, [after 22 July 1878] ). Edition complete …
New material added to the American edition of Origin
Summary
A ‘revised and augmented’ American edition of Origin came on the market in July 1860, and was the only authorised edition available in the US until 1873. It incorporated many of the changes Darwin made to the second English edition, but still contained…
Matches: 13 hits
- … The ‘historical sketch’ printed as a preface to the American edition ( Origin US ed., pp. i–xi) …
- … selection’ ( ibid ., pp. 116*–121*) The final list of changes added as a Supplement to …
- … from Asa Gray offering to arrange an American reprint of the book and to secure the author a share …
- … sake & Publisher’s, any arrangement for any profit.— The new Edit. is only Reprint; yet I have …
- … species is an entity.—‘ After Gray had contacted the Boston publishing firm of Ticknor and …
- … D. Appleton to inquire about author’s copyright and the possibility of reprinting the second English …
- … foreign copyright, they agreed to grant Darwin a share of the profits from their sales. However, …
- … he prefix to Origin a list of authors who had maintained the modification of species (two …
- … who had preceded him in espousing favourable views of the transmutation of species; Darwin sent this …
- … letter of [3? January 1860]) that Darwin wanted inserted at the conclusion of chapter four. Darwin …
- … imparted to the forms of life, advancing them, in definite times, by generation, through grades of …
- … ways excessively intricate. The geological record, at all times imperfect, does not extend far …
- … 2 Origin , p. 83. 3 Origin , pp. 187–8. This phrase and the following, longer …
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: 6 hits
- … I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
- … is evident in their correspondence whenever one or the other was away from Down. The usual rhythm of …
- … But it was in September, when Darwin was finishing work on the second edition of Orchids and …
- … entomologist, William Henry Edwards. The promise in The Times of 25 April that writing could be …
- … in less than a day he could type no more than ‘ 2 or 3 times as slowly as writing ’ (DAR 258: 860) …
- … anyone who wrote a lot, but the novelty soon wore off and in 1878 the machine was given away. …
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
- … There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website. The full texts …
- … translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas by the German science writer Ernst Krause. …
- … carried out their latest experiments on plant movement for the book they intended to publish on the …
- … much’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 15 [June 1879] ). Even the prospect of a holiday in the Lake …
- … July [1879] ). From July, Darwin had an additional worry: the engagement of his son Horace to Ida …
- … have been consoled to learn that his grandfather had felt the same way. In 1792, Erasmus Darwin had …
- … enclosure in letter from R. W. Dixon, 20 December 1879 ). The year ended with the start of one of …
- … a cause for international celebration. A telegram sent on the day from the Naples Zoological …
- … Darwin had worked on his grandfather’s biography at times when he was unable to carry out botanical …
- … ). Francis in Würzburg As he had done in 1878, Francis Darwin spent the summer of 1879 …
- … Romanes on 14 September that he had seen Ruskin several times ‘& he was uncommonly pleasant.’ …
- … cross-fertilisation, had first contacted Darwin in 1876. By 1878, Darwin was sufficiently impressed …
3.7 Leonard Darwin, photo on verandah
Summary
< Back to Introduction Like the anonymous photograph of Darwin on horseback in front of Down House, Leonard Darwin’s photograph of him sitting in a wicker chair on the verandah was originally just a family memento. However, as Darwin’s high…
Matches: 9 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Like the anonymous photograph of Darwin on horseback in front …
- … such visual glimpses of life at Down increasingly entered the public sphere. Thus a wood engraving …
- … of Down – its gardens, greenhouses and paths – as the essential context of Darwin’s hallowed …
- … nature. Subsequently, Francis Darwin was allowed to re-use the Century ’s engraved portrait as …
- … when he had taken it. It cannot be earlier than 1873, since the verandah at Down House was …
- … such as Julius Bryant. However, John van Wyhe proposes 1878, as Emma Darwin’s diary records that …
- … painted in 1872-3. Both images presented an intellectual of the time as a near-profile figure, …
- … (framed pictures, a window), with all attention directed to the subject’s characterful head. Darwin …
- … all its informality, this photograph apparently served as the main source for Boehm’s commemorative …
From morphology to movement: observation and experiment
Summary
Darwin was a thoughtful observer of the natural world from an early age. Whether on a grand scale, as exemplified by his observations on geology, or a microscopic one, as shown by his early work on the eggs and larvae of tiny bryozoans, Darwin was…
Matches: 12 hits
- … Darwin was a thoughtful observer of the natural world from an early age. Whether on a grand scale, …
- … geology, or a microscopic one, as shown by his early work on the eggs and larvae of tiny bryozoans, …
- … also an experimenter, and many of his experiments were at the cutting edge for their time. We have …
- … a basic type modified by law-like processes. Morphology was the study of the transformations brought …
- … with morphology as a science from other sources, notably the works of German and French naturalists, …
- … Although this work resulted in four taxonomic monographs, the research behind these volumes …
- … well as adult forms and tried to view several specimens of the same species from different locations …
- … he was able to reclassify many species, while his study of the adaptation of organs to new …
- … among seemingly disparate groups. His observations were the result of highly skilled experimental …
- … to test whether nectar might be present only at certain times of day or under certain conditions, …
- … letters: Movement in plants ). Francis spent the summers of 1878 and 1879 in Würzburg in the …
- … at odds. In a letter to William Turner Thiselton-Dyer of May 1878, Darwin mused over one such …
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: 15 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
- … in his youth: ‘I have always looked on him as one of the greatest men the world has ever produced. …
- … ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August 1874] ). The death of a Cambridge friend, Albert Way, …
- … to reminiscence about their university days together, and the long-abandoned pleasures of shooting …
- … D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ). Such reminiscences led Darwin to the self-assessment, ‘as for one’s body …
- … ). I feel very old & helpless The year started for Darwin with a week …
- … Ernst Haeckel inferred that he was well from his silence on the matter ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, …
- … for reasons of health from various social activities, even the opportunity to contact the spirit …
- … Darwin excused himself, finding it too hot and tiring. ‘The Lord have mercy on us all, if we have to …
- … to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] ). Later in the month, another Williams séance was held …
- … ‘humbugged’; his theory was that Williams managed to get the two men on each side of him to hold …
- … [1874] ). This did not stop word getting to America of the ‘strange news’ that Darwin had allowed …
- … New editions of Coral reefs and Descent consumed the first three months of the year and, …
- … Utricularia, concluding: ‘The negative work takes five times more time than the positive’ ( …
- … M. M. Radovanović, 17 September 1874 ), which appeared in 1878. Books and articles were …
