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 |
From Asa Gray 31 December 1861
Summary
Discusses dimorphism and suggests CD investigate Valeriana.
Praises CD’s views with respect to the U. S. Civil War and relations with England. Worsening relations between Britain and U. S.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 31 Dec 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 110 (ser. 2): 65, DAR 165: 104–105 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3354 |
Matches: 8 hits
- … Weddell 1855–7 . Koch 1843–4 . Letter to Asa Gray, 11 December [1861] . Psalms 39:3. In …
- … acknowledgement of your very kind letter of the 11 th . — But while I am musing the fire …
- … s opinion of the situation, see the letter to Asa Gray, 11 December [1861] . Jane Loring …
- … Boott’s opinion of events in the letter to Asa Gray, 11 December [1861] . See also Dupree …
- … that intercepted the Trent (see letter to Asa Gray, 11 December [1861] ). The botanist …
- … See McPherson 1988 . CD, in the letter to Asa Gray, 11 December [1861] , had compared his …
- … see the letters from Asa Gray , [27 and 29 August] and 2 September [1861] , 11 October …
- … letters to Asa Gray , 21 July [1861] , 16 September [1861] , 17 September [1861] , and 11 …
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 |
From Asa Gray [27 and 29 August] and 2 September [1861]
Summary
Gives some observations on the sensitivity of Drosera species and comments on cases of "dioecio-dimorphism".
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 and 29 Aug 1861 and 2 Sept 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 110 (ser. 2): 76 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3242 |
To Asa Gray 17 February [1861]
Summary
Distribution of AG’s pamphlet.
Insectivorous plants.
Informs AG of his [CD’s] notice on Pumilio in Gardeners’ Chronicle [5 Jan 1861; Collected papers 2: 36–8].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 17 Feb [1861] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (54) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3064 |
To Asa Gray 16 September [1861]
Summary
Is interested in cases of dimorphism like Primula. Discusses Primula and Linum.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 16 Sept [1861] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (73) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3255 |
To Asa Gray 12 March [1861]
Summary
Has received Chauncey Wright’s article.
Reports on favourable response to AG’s pamphlet.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 12 Mar [1861] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (52) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3087 |
To Asa Gray 17 September [1861]
Summary
U. S. politics and relations with England.
Wants examples of dimorphism similar to Primula.
Structure and function of Spiranthes flower.
Observations and experiments on Drosera.
CD’s views on design.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 17 Sept [1861] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (72) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3256 |
To Asa Gray 5 June [1861]
Summary
AG’s review of John Phillips’ book [Life on earth (1860), in Am. J. Sci. 2d ser. 31 (1861): 444–9].
Thinks his experiments will explain Primula dimorphism.
Insect fertilisation of orchids.
Wishes that the "greatest curse on Earth", slavery, were abolished.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 5 June [1861] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (60) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3176 |
From Asa Gray 9 November 1861
Summary
Discusses observations of his own and of John Torrey on dimorphism, especially in Amsinckia.
Is trying to find specimens of Houstonia for CD.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Nov 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 110 (ser. 2): 63–4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3313 |
To Asa Gray 21 July [1861]
Summary
Is writing his paper on orchids.
Is surprised that AG gets little or no response with Drosera.
Describes the two forms of Primula and asks whether AG knows any analogous cases of dimorphism.
Reports that John Stuart Mill approves of CD’s scientific method.
Discusses American politics.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 21 July [1861] |
| Classmark: | Gray Herbarium of Harvard University (61) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3216 |
From Asa Gray 11 October 1861
Summary
Notes several cases of "dioecio-dimorphism" in different genera; feels the discovery of pollen that will act only on the pistil of another flower is most important. Believes CD should next turn his attention to investigating cases of "precocious fertilisation".
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 Oct 1861 |
| Classmark: | DAR 109: 82–3, DAR 110 (ser. 2): 117, DAR 111: 83 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3282 |
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 …
