From Edward Cresy 30 October 1860
Summary
Sends CD passages from A. S. Taylor’s book [On poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence and medicine, 2d ed. (1859)], citing smallest portions of poisons that are chemically detectable. "Drosera beats the chemists hollow."
| Author: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 30 Oct 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 6, 58.2: 49–52 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2968 |
Matches: 10 hits
- … a piece of copper wire would be discoloured by the mixture. See Taylor 1848 , p. …
- … 352. Taylor 1848 , p. …
- … 354. Taylor 1848 , p. 409. …
- … Corrosive sublimate is mercuric chloride. Taylor 1848 , p. 685. …
- … 27: 313–21. Taylor, Alfred Swaine. 1848. On poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence …
- … Taylor 1848 . Cresy refers to the remark made by August Wilhelm von Hofmann in the letter …
- … Edward Cresy, 13 October 1860, n. 3. Taylor 1848 , p. 351. Edgar Hugo Emil Reinsch was a …
- … s work on the detection of poisons, see Coley 1991. Taylor 1848 , p. 305. Thomas Stewart …
- … Traill was professor of medical jurisprudence at Edinburgh University . Taylor 1848 , p. …
- … 339. Taylor 1848 , p. 341. For James Marsh’s test for arsenic, see the letter from A. …
From A. W. von Hofmann to Edward Cresy 27 October 1860
Summary
Is enclosing Alfred Swaine Taylor’s book On poisons (1848). Reports on his own experiment with the starch test in dissolving iodine in different measures of water.
| Author: | August Wilhelm von Hofmann |
| Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
| Date: | 27 Oct 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2966A |
From Joshua Toulmin Smith 6 January 1860
Summary
Sends a copy of his Ventriculidae [of the Chalk (1848)]. This group, he feels, is well represented by CD’s plate of graduating species [Origin, ch. 4].
| Author: | Joshua Toulmin Smith |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Jan 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 261.11: 32.ii (EH 88206084) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2642 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … of his Ventriculidae [ of the Chalk (1848)]. This group, he feels, is well represented by …
- … Murray. 1859. Smith, Joshua Toulmin. 1848. Ventriculidæ of the Chalk: their microscopic …
- … Magazine of Natural History , were issued as a volume in 1848. A copy of this work ( J. …
- … T. Smith 1848 ) is in the Darwin Library–Down. Smith refers to the diagram in Origin , …
From August Wilhelm von Hofmann to Edward Cresy 13 October 1860
Summary
Has not himself experimented with delicacy of tests but sends several illustrations of what other authorities have done. Reference to James Marsh’s test for arsenic and that of Ashley Paston Price for iodine.
| Author: | August Wilhelm von Hofmann |
| Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
| Date: | 13 Oct 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 4 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2947B |
Matches: 5 hits
- … upon contact with starch paste. In Taylor 1848 , p. 305, it is stated that this test is a …
- … University Press. 1927–96. Taylor, Alfred Swaine. 1848. On poisons in relation to medical …
- … poisons, in which the procedure for Marsh’s test is described ( Taylor 1848 , pp. 345–6). …
- … that Marsh’s test was ‘undoubtedly one of great delicacy’ ( Taylor 1848 , pp. 350–1). …
- … See also Coley 1991. In Taylor 1848 , pp. 153–4, the method of detecting lead in solution …
To J. T. Smith 4 January 1860
Summary
Remembers reading Smith’s memoir in Geological Transactions on the anomalous nature of Ventriuculidae. Asks for a copy.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joshua Toulmin Smith |
| Date: | 4 Jan 1860 |
| Classmark: | Indiana University, The Lilly Library (Sieveking MSS) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2637F |
From Hensleigh Wedgwood [January? 1860]
Summary
Prepared to think world infinitely old, but not that life originated with a single cell. Questions whether geological evidence supports gradual progress in organisation. HW thought scientific opinion during Vestiges debate was against this hypothesis. Argues that presence of same senses in lower animals and vertebrates does not imply descent; assumes resemblance is due to living in same world and thus having organs for the same purposes. Wants CD to know how others may see these questions.
| Author: | Hensleigh Wedgwood |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Jan? 1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 48: 83–5 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2389 |
To W. D. Fox 18 June [1860]
Summary
Has WDF ever observed musk ducks laying eggs in high places? The case bears on retention of aboriginal habits.
Also wants data on period of gestation of dog breeds. [See Variation 1: 30.]
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Darwin Fox |
| Date: | 18 June [1860] |
| Classmark: | Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 129) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2836 |
From Alfred Swaine Taylor to Edward Cresy 10 December 1860
Summary
CD may be interested in a reference to a method of detecting 1/195000 of a grain of sodium chloride.
Also, on Drosera, suggests it would be interesting to try substances such as gun-cotton, in which nitrogen is in very different states from a salt of ammonia.
| Author: | Alfred Swaine Taylor |
| Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
| Date: | 10 Dec 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 58.1: 14–15 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3015 |
To J. S. Henslow 2 April [1860]
Summary
Reminds JSH to send "sketch & account of the wasp’s comb in transitional state from horizontal to vertical, & the country whence procured".
Asks for information on spread of Anacharis [Elodea].
Sedgwick [in criticism of Origin] was not very fair, but Murray says it is splendid for selling copies to "the unfortunate students".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Stevens Henslow |
| Date: | 2 Apr [1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 93: A65–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2742 |
To Williams and Norgate 29 [January 1860]
Summary
Orders copy of book by Louis Agassiz [Nomenclatoris Zoologici Index Universalis (1846)].
Mentions book sent by Quatrefages de Bréau.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Williams & Norgate |
| Date: | 29 [Jan 1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.194) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2666 |
To John Lubbock 29 [May 1860]
Summary
Local affairs.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Lubbock, 4th baronet and 1st Baron Avebury |
| Date: | 29 [May 1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 263: 40 (EH 88206484) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2817 |
To John Higgins 19 November 1860
Summary
Acknowledges receipt of £244 15s. 11d.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | John Higgins |
| Date: | 19 Nov 1860 |
| Classmark: | Dominic Winter Auctioneers (dealers) (10 April 2019, lot 138) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2988F |
Matches: 1 hit
- … On Sutterton, see Correspondence vol. 4, letter to John Higgins, 14 June [1848] and n. 1. …
To Charles Lyell 22 May [1860]
Summary
Mentions American edition of Origin.
A "savage" review [by John Duns] in North British Review [32 (1860): 455–68].
Comments on views of G. H. K. Thwaites on the survival of simple forms as a problem in his theory.
Mentions imperfection of geological record.
Marine origin of coal.
Illness of Etty.
Encloses article by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire on hare–rabbit crosses [Histoire naturelle générale (1854–62) 3: 222].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 22 May [1860] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.213) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2812 |
To Edward Cresy [19 October 1860]
Summary
Obliged for note of 16th.
Failed to enclose letter from Hofmann.
Will be glad to read A. S. Taylor’s work [On poisons in relation to medical jurisprudence and medicine, 2d ed. (1859)].
Daughter Henrietta still weak.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edward Cresy, Jr |
| Date: | [19 Oct 1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 143: 315 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2933 |
To J. D. Hooker 22 [May 1860]
Summary
Floral anatomy.
Wallace’s capital response on reading Origin.
E. W. Binney has published on coal-plants living in marine waters ["On the origin of coal", Mem. Lit. & Philos. Soc. Manchester 2d ser. 8 (1848): 148–94], an old CD idea.
Waste of pollen in horse chestnut will make a good case against perfection.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 22 [May 1860] |
| Classmark: | DAR 115: 57 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2813 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Lit. & Philos. Soc. Manchester 2d ser. 8 (1848): 148–94], an old CD idea. Waste of pollen …
To Charles Griffin & Co. 29 January [1860]
Summary
Returns MS [of biography for Dictionary of contemporary biography (1861)]. Part was inaccurate, and there was an important omission so CD has had a new copy made.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Griffin |
| Date: | 29 Jan [1860] |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Add MS 28509: 408) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2667 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … in London, having moved from Glasgow in 1848. The date is inferred from the publication …
From Charles Lyell 7 May 1860
Summary
Saw Salter’s Spirifer specimens; a very good proof of indefinite modifiability.
Beginning to think gap between Cambrian and Lower Silurian enormous.
Édouard Lartet to give paper before Geological Society ["On coexistence of man with certain extinct quadrupeds", Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 16 (1859–60): 471–5].
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 May 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.9: 396 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2787 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Prado began a geological survey of Spain in 1848. Édouard Amant Isidore Hippolyte Lartet’s …
From Asa Gray to J. D. Hooker 5 January 1860
Summary
Opinions on the Origin: AG thinks it masterly; Agassiz considers it very poor.
| Author: | Asa Gray |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 5 Jan 1860 |
| Classmark: | DAR 98 (ser. 2): 20–1 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2638 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … January [1860] and n. 6. [Gray] 1860a. Since 1848, Gray had been working on a description …
To Henry Walter Bates 22 November [1860]
Summary
Thanks for interesting letter which confirms belief that a good observer is a good theorist.
He is glad to hear that HWB, with his wide knowledge of natural history, has anticipated CD in many respects and agrees with the Origin.
Has been thoroughly attacked, especially by entomologists – J. O. Westwood, T. V. Wollaston, and Andrew Murray.
Glad HWB is writing on "equatorial refrigeration"; CD expresses his belief in north to south migration during glacial period.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Henry Walter Bates |
| Date: | 22 Nov [1860] |
| Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2993 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … with his friend Alfred Russel Wallace in 1848 ( Marchant 1916 , 1: 24–6). Announcements of …
To J. D. Hooker 20 May [1860]
Summary
Gives references to experiments on cowslip for W. H. Harvey.
Suggests possible sources of error in results. Feels evidence is overwhelming that cowslip and primrose are varieties.
Has received laudatory verses on the Origin from some botanist; suspects Francis Boott.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 20 May [1860] |
| Classmark: | Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-2811 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … specific identity of the cowslip and primrose. Phytologist 3 (1848-9): 703–5. [Vols. 8,9] …
| letter | (22) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (14) |
| Hofmann, A. W. von | (2) |
| Cresy, Edward, Jr | (1) |
| Gray, Asa | (1) |
| Lyell, Charles | (1) |
| Cresy, Edward, Jr | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (4) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Wyman, Jeffries | (2) |
| Bates, H. W. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (18) |
| Cresy, Edward, Jr | (5) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (3) |
| Hofmann, A. W. von | (2) |
| Lyell, Charles | (2) |
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…
Matches: 8 hits
- … on geology ( letter to J. F. W. Herschel, 4 February [1848] ). Letters between Darwin and Richard …
- … on board ship ( see letter to Richard Owen, [26 March 1848] ). Darwin’s chapter plainly calls on …
- … a notion which was roundly criticised by William Hopkins in 1848. Hopkins maintained that transport …
- … ‘desideratum’ ( letter to J. L. R. Agassiz, 22 October 1848 ), was accepted by Darwin, and he …
- … the group, turned over some notes he had made, and, early in 1848, obtained permission for Darwin to …
- … & Species theory al Diabolo together During 1848, Darwin examined the genera Ibla …
- … is all gospel.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1848 ). Once Darwin had decided to …
- … this period, especially in 1847 and during the last half of 1848 and the beginning of 1849. When his …
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 1174 - Charles Darwin to Joseph Dalton Hooker, 10 May 1848 …
Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia
Summary
Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…
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…
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: 4 hits
- … Letter 1166 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, [26 Mar 1848] Darwin describes in detail to …
- … Letter 1167 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S., [1 Apr 1848] Darwin ends by suggesting that if …
- … Letter 1174 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 10 May 1848 Darwin discusses his barnacle work. …
- … Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] Darwin writes to Hooker about his …
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: 25 hits
- … 1842]. Life of D. of Marlborough [A. Alison 1848]— (read) Montagus Translat of Visa …
- … 1834] (& of Europe?) [Gould 1832–7] & of Australia [Gould 1848]; well worth studying for …
- … [Dandolo 1825] /good/ M rs Whitby [Whitby 1848] In Library of Entomological Society & …
- … [E. Phipps 1850] L d . Harveys Memoirs [Hervey 1848] Cuming Lion Hunter [Cumming …
- … 1818] (Brougham) Ermans Travels in Siberia [Erman 1848] (Boot) 44 (read) Bethunes …
- … Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] Lamb’s Letters [Lamb 1837] (read) …
- … [Godwin 1835] Brookes last Journal by Mundy [Mundy 1848] Goldsmiths life by Forster …
- … Charing Cross—sells Johnstons Maps [A. K. Johnston 1848] separately—Forbes is going to publish one. …
- … Emotions by G. Ramsay B.M. 6. 6. Black Edin. Longman [Ramsay 1848] St. John’s Nat. Hist. of …
- … 1839] Catherine 48 Life of Collins R.A. [Collins 1848] Phases of Faith [Newman 1850 …
- … Christian K.. Soc [Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge 1848] 81 March 30 th . Life …
- … Brown 1824, 1814, 1818]. [DAR 119: 21a] 1848 . Jan 1. Reports & …
- … 25. Bunbury Journal of Residence at C. of Good Hope [Bunbury 1848] March. 5. Memoires de la …
- … 12. Arthur Adams. Notes from Journal of Nat. Hist. [Belcher 1848] May Kosmos [?A. von …
- … 7 th Supplements to Müllers Physiology [Baly and Kirkes 1848] 17 th Thompson’s Birds of …
- … Oct 5. Gould Introduct. to Birds of Australia [Gould 1848] —— 20 Billing’s Voyage to N. Sea …
- … ] up to Tom IX inclusive [DAR 119: 21b] 1848 Jan 25. W. Tone …
- … July 20. Sterlings Memoir of by Hare [Sterling 1848]— moderately good Campbells Chancellors …
- … Eyre [Brontë] 1847]— Kelly’s & O’Kellys [Trollope 1848]— M r Warrenne [E. Wallace 1848 …
- … Autobiography of a Working Man. A Somerville [A. Somerville 1848] (excellent) 28. M. …
- … & Gould Principles of Zoology Vol I. [Agassiz and Gould 1848] 30. Hom. de Hells Travels …
- … 5 th . Miss Martineau. Eastern Travels [H. Martineau 1848], curious & interesting …
- … (poor) —— Sir Fowle’s Buxton’s life [Buxton 1848]— (very good) 3 d Sleeman’s …
- … 1845b]. G. Gurney [Hook] 1836]. Harold [Bulwer-Lytton] 1848] Consuelo [Sand 1847]. Wandering …
- … —— May. Haygarth Bush Life in Australia [Haygarth 1848] —— Diary of an Invalid [Matthews 1820 …
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 3 hits
- … ill health, which increased in severity in the years around 1848, 1852, 1859, and 1863. In a letter …
- … entries and correspondence during periods of sickness in 1848, 1852, and 1859 (see Colp 1977, pp. 38 …
- … Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Emma Darwin, [27-8 May 1848] . See also Browne 1995, pp. 428-9 …
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: 4 hits
- … sends a list of plants from Gray’s Manual of botany [1848] and asks him to append the ranges of …
- … Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., 6 Oct [1848] Darwin catches up on personal …
- … Letter 1189 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S., 2 July [1848] Darwin criticises the lecturing …
- … Letter 1176 — Darwin, C. R. to Darwin, Emma, [20–1 May 1848] Darwin writes to his wife Emma. …
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
Here is a list of people that appeared in the photograph album Darwin received for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from scientific admirers in the Netherlands. Many thanks to Hester Loeff for identifying and researching them. No. …
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
List of people appearing in the photograph album Darwin received from scientific admirers in the Netherlands for his birthday on 12 February 1877. We are grateful to Hester Loeff for providing this list and for permission to make her research available.…
Living and fossil cirripedia
Summary
Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…
Matches: 3 hits
3.5 William Darwin, photo 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction Darwin’s son William, who had become a banker in Southampton, took the opportunity of a short visit home to Down House in April 1864 to photograph his father afresh. This half-length portrait was the first to show Darwin with a…
Alfred Russel Wallace
Summary
Wallace was a leading Victorian naturalist, with wide-ranging interests from biogeography and evolutionary theory to spiritualism and politics. He was born in 1823 in Usk, a small town in south-east Wales, and attended a grammar school in Hertford. At the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Henry Walter Bates, and the two men travelled to Brazil in 1848 to pursue natural history. Despite …
Jane Gray
Summary
Jane Loring Gray, the daughter of a Boston lawyer, married the Harvard botanist Asa Gray in 1848 and evidence suggests that she took an active interest in the scientific pursuits of her husband and his friends. Although she is only known to have…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of a Boston lawyer, married the Harvard botanist Asa Gray in 1848 and evidence suggests that she …
Father dies
Summary
Darwin's father, Robert Waring Darwin. dies in Shrewsbury
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's father, Robert Waring Darwin. dies in Shrewsbury …
Julia Wedgwood
Summary
Charles Darwin’s readership largely consisted of other well-educated Victorian men, nonetheless, some women did read, review, and respond to Darwin’s work. One of these women was Darwin’s own niece, Julia Wedgwood, known in the family as “Snow”. In July…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the first intakes at both Queen’s and Bedford Colleges in 1848 and 1849. Her teachers included James …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the completion of his secondary education at Erfurt in 1848, he studied natural sciences at Halle …
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
- … XVII, 1882 4 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 10 MAY 1848 5 C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER …
Asa Gray
Summary
Darwin’s longest running and most significant exchange of correspondence dealing with the subjects of design in nature and religious belief was with the Harvard botanist Asa Gray. Gray was one of Darwin’s leading supporters in America. He was also a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1848 he married Jane Loring. They had no …
