To J. D. Hooker 18 [July 1855]
Summary
Has read a paper, presumably by JDH, using the Madeiran flora to argue against Forbes’s doctrine.
JDH asked how far CD will go in attributing common descent; he intends to show "the facts & arguments for & against the common descent of species of same genus; & then show how far the same arguments tell for or against forms, more & more widely different".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 18 [July 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 142 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1719 |
To John Lubbock 19 [July 1855]
Summary
Congratulations to JL on finding musk-ox fossil.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | 19 [July 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 1 (EH 88206446) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1720 |
From Robert Hunt 19 July 1855
Summary
Discusses how best to simulate the light at a particular point on the earth’s surface using coloured glass; considers sunlight as composed of three "principles", varying in proportion according to latitude, which affect germination, lignification, and floriation.
| Author: | Robert Hunt |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 19 July 1855 |
| Classmark: | DAR 261.11: 17 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1721 |
To J. D. Hooker 19 July [1855]
Summary
Parcels sent to Down by coach may get lost.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 19 July [1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 139 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1722 |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle [before 21 July 1855]
Summary
Reports on observing hive-bees visiting the leaves of vetch and bean and sucking the minute drops of nectar secreted by the glands on the underside of the stipulae. This phenomenon proves wrong those botanists who believe nectar to be a special secretion for the sole purpose of luring insects to visit flowers and thus to aid in their fertilisation.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
| Date: | [before 21 July 1855] |
| Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, no. 29, 21 July 1855, p. 487 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1723 |
To A. A. Gould 21 July 1855
Summary
If AAG is no longer member of the Ray Society, CD would like to send copy of Living Cirripedia, vol. 2.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Augustus Addison Gould |
| Date: | 21 July 1855 |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (Augustus A. Gould papers, 1831–66 MS Am 1210: 230) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1724 |
To Asa Gray 21 July [1855]
Summary
Geographical distribution. "Close" species. Hopes AG will write an essay on species.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 21 July [1855] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1725 |
To J. S. Henslow 21 July [1855]
Summary
Thanks JSH for all he has done. His botanical little girls are marvellous. His marking of the list of dubious species is what CD wanted. Explains that he wanted to ascertain whether closely allied forms belong to large or small genera.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 21 July [1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A98–A100 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1726 |
To Robert Hunt 22 July [1855]
Summary
Mentions RH’s book on light [Researches on light in its chemical relations, 2d ed. (1854)]. Asks about coloured glass used in experiments on plants.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Hunt |
| Date: | 22 July [1855] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1727 |
To W. D. Fox 22 [July 1855]
Summary
Describes his method of putting young poultry to death.
Asks questions arising from WDF’s reply about crossed mongrels.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 22 [July 1855] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 95) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1728 |
To J. S. Henslow 23 [July 1855]
Summary
Invites JSH to dine at CD’s brother’s house in London.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 23 [July 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A42 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1729 |
From Robert Hunt 24 July 1855
Summary
Informs CD which colours of glass accelerate germination, lignification, and floriation; advises CD on obtaining such glass and offers his help in any experiments.
| Author: | Robert Hunt |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 July 1855 |
| Classmark: | DAR 261.11: 18 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1730 |
To J. D. Hooker 28 [July 1855]
Summary
Praise for JDH’s Flora Indica [J. D. Hooker and T. Thomson (1855)] from CD and C. J. F. Bunbury.
CD and J. S. Henslow dining in London. JDH invited.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 28 [July 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 143a |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1731 |
To J. S. Henslow 28 July [1855]
Summary
Delighted JSH can dine. Has invited Hooker.
Thanks him for Lychnis seed.
Asks for umbel of wild celery. Wants to ascertain whether wild or tame plants produce most seed.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 28 July [1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A43–A44 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1732 |
To W. D. Fox 31 July [1855]
Summary
Has received the duck and bantam.
Anxious to get as many facts as possible on crossbreeding of dogs.
Reports on seeds that have germinated after 100 days immersion [in salt water].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 31 July [1855] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 65) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1733 |
To Robert Hunt 31 July [1855]
Summary
Mentions experiments on plants involving coloured glass. Encloses correspondence from glass maker and asks advice.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Robert Hunt |
| Date: | 31 July [1855] |
| Classmark: | Bonhams (dealers) (28 September 2004) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1734 |
From Edward Blyth 4 August 1855
Summary
Sends a skeleton of a Bengal jungle cock.
Has never heard of trained otters breeding in captivity.
Introduced domestic rabbits are confined to the ports of India.
Canaries and other tame finches and thrushes brought into India do not breed well.
Origin of the domestic canary. Tendency of domesticated birds to produce "top-knot" varieties.
The tame geese of lower Bengal are hybrids; those of upper Bengal are said to be pure Anser cygnoides.
Wild Anser cinereus occur in flocks in the cold season.
Discusses at length different breeds of domestic cats and possible wild progenitors. Wild and domestic cats occasionally interbreed. The Angora variety breeds freely with the common Bengal cat and all stages of intermediates can be found.
Believes pigeons have been bred in India since remote antiquity.
Discusses whether mankind is divided into races or distinct species.
[CD’s notes are an abstract of this letter.]
| Author: | Edward Blyth |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Aug 1855 |
| Classmark: | DAR 98: A69–A78 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1735 |
To J. D. Hooker 9 [December 1855]
Summary
Burying charlock seeds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 9 [Dec 1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 143 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1736 |
To J. D. Hooker 10 August [1855]
Summary
Morning with H. C. Watson; discussed problems of inferences from buried seeds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 10 Aug [1855] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 144 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1737 |
To J. D. Hooker 11 August [1855]
Summary
Has left a book from Henslow for JDH at Athenaeum.
When Asa Gray wrote, did he send marked sheets [of his Manual of botany]?
Has just made out "new & wonderful" specific character between two of his pigeon breeds.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 11 Aug [1855] |
| Classmark: | Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Directors’ Correspondence DC/35/129) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1738 |
| letter | (191) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (140) |
| Blyth, Edward | (12) |
| Watson, H. C. | (7) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (4) |
| Davy, John | (2) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (49) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (28) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (17) |
| Fox, W. D. | (12) |
| Gardeners’ Chronicle | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (189) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (32) |
| Henslow, J. S. | (18) |
| Blyth, Edward | (12) |
| Fox, W. D. | (12) |
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: 6 hits
- … to various ends. THE CONCURRENCE OF BOTANISTS: 1855 In which Darwin initiates a long …
- … the letter. DARWIN: 8 April 25 th 1855. My dear [Dr Gray]. I hope you will …
- … ‘Arct. Asia’… GRAY: 9 May 22 nd 1855. Harvard University. My Dear Sir, I …
- … JANUARY 1844 8 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 25 APRIL 1855 9 A GRAY TO C DARWIN, …
- … 24 AUGUST 1856 17 C DARWIN TO A GRAY, 8 JUNE 1855 18 C DARWIN TO A …
- … 1857 22 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER, 18 JULY 1855 23 JD HOOKER TO C DARWIN, …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Biogeography
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Observations aboard the Beagle During his five year journey around the world on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin encountered many different landscapes and an enormous variety of flora and fauna. Some of his most…
Matches: 6 hits
- … chapters 11 and 12 Papers Darwin, Charles. 1855. "Does sea-water kill seeds? …
- … Letter 1661 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker, 7 April 1855 Darwin writes to his good friend, …
- … Letter 1669 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker, 19 April 1855 Darwin rejects Hooker’s suggestion …
- … Letter 1680 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker, 11 May 1855 Darwin congratulates Hooker on his …
- … Letter 1681 —Charles Darwin to JD Hooker 15 May 1855 Darwin is upset with the experiment …
- … of Darwin’s work. The first experiment mimicked Darwin’s 1855 work on seeds and salt-water. 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: 1 hits
- … for his botanical work, at Down House since the winter of 1855–6 (see CD’s Classed account book …
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
- … Letter 1674 - Charles Darwin to Asa Gray, 25 Apr 1855 Letter 1174 - Charles Darwin to …
Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter
Summary
The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…
Matches: 8 hits
- … naturalists whom he believed deserved recognition. In 1855, he nominated John Obadiah Westwood for …
- … changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855] , ‘it shocks my philosophy to create land …
- … fertility of hybrids, Darwin began in the spring of 1855 a series of hybridising experiments with …
- … of specialists in his cirripede study, so Darwin began in 1855 to establish a comparable, yet even …
- … travelogues that described unusual domestic breeds. Early in 1855, following the advice of William …
- … breeding. As Darwin told Fox in a letter of 27 March [1855] , the object of his work was ‘to view …
- … wish it Throughout the correspondence of 1854 and 1855, the overwhelming impression given …
- … & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But, whether successful or …
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin opens by reminding Harvard …
- … Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. R., 22 May 1855 Gray recalled meeting Darwin three …
- … Letter 1720 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, 19 [July 1855] Darwin congratulates Lubbock on …
- … 1751 — Darwin, C. R. to Tegetmeier, W. B., 31 Aug [1855] Darwin thanks W. B. Tegetmeier for …
- … 1788 — Darwin, C. R. to Tegetmeier, W. B., [2 Dec 1855] Darwin raises queries resulting …
What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
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 …
Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 23 hits
- … Life of Sheridan [T. Moore 1825] Huc’s China [Huc 1855] —read } recom by Erasmus. Watt …
- … Rev d Baden Powel on the Unity of Worlds [Powell 1855]—discusses Vestiges [Chambers] 1847], must …
- … 172] D r . Young’s Life by Peacock [Peacock 1855] praised by Erasmus.— Read …
- … 12. Begin vol. 13. 98 Huc’s “Chinese Empire” [Huc 1855] several Dogs & Cats described. (read) …
- … Impériale et Centrale d'Horticulture de Paris ] vol. 1 1855. (I have read p. 209 to 268.) …
- … recommends me to read Alexander Blain on Intellect [Bain 1855] 102 Eytons work on the …
- … Soc.? Maury sailing directions 18 55 [Maury 1855]. must be studied. Lyell has.— …
- … Horn [Castelnau 1846], or his Botanist [Weddell 1855–7] Brit. Mus. Catalogue. Ungulates …
- … 27. Gmelin Flora Siberica [Gmelin 1747–69] 1855. Wollastons Insecta Maderensia [Wollaston …
- … 1845]. 25. The Angler Piscator D r Davy [J. Davy 1855] Ap 27 th Zoologist [ …
- … ] Vol: 3. 1848–50. [DAR 128: 11] 1855. Sydney Smith life [S. Smith 1855] …
- … (good) Sept Private life of an E. King [Knighton] 1855]. (good) Dec 13 Wabash [Beste …
- … 1851]. May 28. Lyells Elements 5 th . Edit [Lyell 1855] —— 29 th Carpenters …
- … C. Nott and Gliddon 1854] [DAR 128: 14] 1855 Sept. Tegetmeier on …
- … Jan. 10. B. Powell. Unity of Worlds [Powell 1855]. —— Lepsius Auswahl der Wichtigsten …
- … 1856 Jan 21. Huc’s Chinese Empire [Huc 1855] Feb 16 th Pagets Hungary [John Paget …
- … March 20. Nat. Hist. of the Dee [W. Macgillivray 1855] —— Recherches sur l’Agriculture des …
- … [Wollaston 1856] F. Smith on Apidæ [F. Smith 1855] 15 H C. Watson Remarks on Geograph …
- … 1851] —— Heers Os. Paper on Madeira fossils [Heer 1855] —— 19 Von Tschudi Alpine life …
- … 1856] Dec. Young’s life of Peacock [Peacock 1855] Thackeray English Humourists …
- … Dec. Motley’s History of Dutch Republic [Motley 1855] [DAR 128: 24] 1859 …
- … Botanique de France ] Vol s . 1 & 2. 1854 & 1855.— [DAR 128: 27] …
- … the evening meeting of the Royal Institution on 9 February 1855. 91 The note “not …
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…
Variation under domestication
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A fascination with domestication Throughout his working life, Darwin retained an interest in the history, techniques, practices, and processes of domestication. Artificial selection, as practiced by plant and…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Letter 1651 — Darwin to Fox, W.D., 19 March [1855] Darwin writes to his second cousin, …
- … Letter 1686 — Darwin to Fox, W.D., 23 May [1855] In this letter, Darwin writes to his …
- … Letter 1788 — Darwin to Tegetmeier, W.B., [2 Dec 1855] In this letter Darwin writes to …
- … Letter 1794 — Darwin to Layard, E.L., 9 Dec 1855 Darwin writes to Edgard Layard, a …
Scientific Practice
Summary
Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 1635 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H., 20 Feb [1855?] …
3.2 Maull and Polyblank photo 1
Summary
< Back to Introduction The rise of professional photographic studios in the mid nineteenth century was a key factor in the shaping of Darwinian iconography, but Darwin’s relationship with these firms was from the start a cautious and sometimes a…
Matches: 4 hits
- … invited for a sitting in their London studio, probably in 1855. Portrait photography of this kind …
- … family or by other sympathisers from the 1860s onwards. The 1855 photograph, at first available only …
- … photographers date of creation 1854 or early 1855 computer-readable date …
- … Polyblank, NPG P106. Letters from Darwin to Hooker, 27 May [1855] (DCP-LETT-1688) and 17 Dec. [1860] …
Hermann Müller
Summary
Hermann (Heinrich Ludwig Hermann) Müller, was born in Mühlberg near Erfurt in 1829. He was the younger brother of Fritz Müller (1822–97). Following the completion of his secondary education at Erfurt in 1848, he studied natural sciences at Halle and Berlin…
Before Origin: the ‘big book’
Summary
Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…
Matches: 4 hits
- … well ’, he fretted at the time. However, by March 1855, he was immersed in the preparatory stages …
- … however, the pigeon house constructed at Down in April 1855 did not look ‘ very ugly ’, the …
- … delight to his young daughter Henrietta . In April 1855, at the same time as Darwin began …
- … While there, he wrote to Wallace. Praising Wallace’s 1855 article on species, and commenting on the …
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: 4 hits
- … experiments on plants. Expanding projects set up during 1855 and 1856 (see Correspondence vol. 5 …
- … (see Correspondence vol. 3), he had begun in 1855 a series of researches designed to explain how …
- … of his study was the series of experiments begun in 1855 based on soaking a wide variety of seeds in …
- … in this area, for Charles Lyell thought that Wallace’s 1855 paper implied some kind of belief in …
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
- … and inflammation of the joints (see, for example, Holland 1855, p. 233, and Garrod 1863, pp. 263-4). …
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…
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…
