To Fritz Müller [9 and] 15 April [1866]
Summary
Structure of Scaevola and its fertilisation with insect aid.
Fertilisation of Aristolochia.
FM’s paper on climbing plants [see 5146].
Is preparing new edition of Origin.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | 9 and 15 Apr 1866 |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 6) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5050 |
To Fritz Müller [before 10 December 1866]
Summary
Hildebrand’s paper on trimorphism in Oxalis ["Über den Trimorphismus in der Gattung Oxalis", Monatsber. K. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. Berlin (1866): 352–74].
Problems of explaining brightly coloured, attractive seeds.
Haeckel has visited Down.
FM’s climbing plants paper is printed [J. Proc. Linn. Soc. Lond. (Bot.) 9 (1867): 344–9].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | [before 10 Dec 1866] |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 10) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5261 |
To Fritz Müller 23 May 1866
Summary
Thanks for information on orchids
and facts on coastal flora and fauna.
Asks FM to look out for dimorphic aquatic and marsh plants.
Has read pamphlets "in our favour" by Carl v. Nägeli and Oscar Schmidt.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | 23 May 1866 |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 7) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5097 |
From W. E. Darwin 8 May [1866]
Summary
Describes the floral structure of broom, particularly the form of the varying anthers. Encloses drawings of anthers and pollen.
Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 8 May [1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 76: B52, 66–72 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-3144 |
From J. T. Moggridge 9 November [1866]
Summary
At CD’s request he is looking into the gardeners’ custom of separating all sweetpea varieties in order to obtain pure seed.
Author: | John Traherne Moggridge |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 9 Nov [1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 201 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5272 |
To Fritz Müller [late December 1866 and] 1 January 1867
Summary
Thanks for observations on dimorphic plants. Dimorphism prevalent in certain groups throughout the world.
Retarded fertilisation in certain orchids.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | 31 Dec 1866 and 1 Jan 1867 |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 11) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5331 |
From H. E. Darwin [c. 10 May 1866]
Summary
Mogg [John Traherne Moggridge] wants to visit CD.
Self-fertilising orchids.
Author: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [c. 10 May 1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 67 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5075 |
From Fritz Müller 1 December 1866
Summary
Gives observations on orchid ovules ripening long after blooming.
Infertility with own pollen sometimes does and sometimes does not indicate dimorphism; gives observations on Ximenia, Eschscholtzia and Oncidium flexuosum.
Describes some striking seeds eaten by birds,
and some new dimorphic species.
Variation in Thillia.
Confirms CD’s suspicion that the lancet-fish [Amphioxus] lives in competition with invertebrates: it shares its habitat with a similar-looking Ophelia, which is quite unlike other annelids, just as the lancet-fish is unlike other fishes.
Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 1 Dec 1866 |
Classmark: | Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: 99–102. |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5292A |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle [before 10 February 1866]
Summary
Asks botanical readers to inform him "whether in those monoecious or dioecious plants, in which the flowers are widely different, it has ever been observed that half the flower, or only a segment of it, has been of one sex and the other half or segment of the opposite sex, in the same manner as so frequently occurs with insects?"
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
Date: | [before 10 Feb 1866] |
Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette, 10 February 1866, p. 127 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5001 |
To W. E. Darwin 30 [June 1866]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | 30 [June 1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 185: 17 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5136 |
To Fritz Müller 23 August [1866]
Summary
Thanks for observations on orchids.
FM’s paper on climbing plants [see 5146]; CD has received proofs.
Carl Claus’s pamphlet on copepods [Die Copepodenfauna von Nizza (1866)].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | 23 Aug [1866] |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 8) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5196 |
From Friedrich Hildebrand 11 May 1866
Summary
Sending his paper on tristyly in Oxalis.
Cannot attend botanical congress, where CD will be vice-president.
Author: | Friedrich Hermann Gustav (Friedrich) Hildebrand |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 11 May 1866 |
Classmark: | DAR 166: 203 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5087 |
From Fritz Müller [2 November 1866]
Summary
Sends his observations on sterility of Eschscholzia,
on Oxalis,
and on recently found dimorphic plants.
Sends specimen of Hedyotis [see Forms of flowers, p. 133].
Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [2 Nov 1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 111: B59, DAR 142: 100, 101, 105, Möller ed. 1915–21, 2: 93–4 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5264 |
From Robert Caspary [after 9 June 1866]
Summary
Data on good and bad pollen-grain yields of different species. Sends sketches of two male Rhamnus catharticus flowers [see Forms of flowers, p. 294].
Author: | Johann Xaver Robert (Robert) Caspary |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [after 9 June 1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 109: A81; DAR 111: B45, B48b, B48c |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10344 |
From George Henslow 7 April 1866
Summary
Sends copies of Science gossip and The leisure hour.
Enjoyed visit.
His criticism of Primula fertility referred to table 2 [Collected papers 2: 56] where weight of seeds produced from good pods by long-styled homostylous cross and short-styled heterostylous cross are virtually identical.
Author: | George Henslow |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 7 Apr 1866 |
Classmark: | DAR 166: 157 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5048 |
From L. E. Becker 28 December [1866]
Summary
Thanks for "Climbing plants" and other papers [as requested in 5316].
Sends specimens of a variety of Primula not mentioned by CD [in Primula paper, Collected papers 2: 45–63?].
Author: | Lydia Ernestine Becker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 28 Dec [1866] |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 114 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5327 |
To Friedrich Hildebrand 16 May [1866]
Summary
Has forwarded FH’s paper on Fumariaceae to horticultural congress. Comments on its findings.
Discusses forms of Oxalis.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Friedrich Hermann Gustav (Friedrich) Hildebrand |
Date: | 16 May [1866] |
Classmark: | Klaus Groove (private collection); sold by Venator and Hanstein, Cologne (dealers), 16 March 2018 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5092 |
From Fritz Müller 2 August 1866
Summary
Gives some observations on orchids and on some plants which seem to be dichogamous.
Author: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Aug 1866 |
Classmark: | DAR 76: B33, 33a; DAR 157a: 81, 102; DAR 142: 38 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5173 |
To Gardeners’ Chronicle [before 11 August 1866]
Summary
Asks readers to examine the flowers of Oxalis bowei to observe where the summits of the branching stigmas stand with respect to the two sets of anthers. In CD’s plants the stigmas stand beneath the lower anthers, but he believes two other forms exist: long-styled and mid-styled. Would be grateful for flowers of these types so he can fertilise them and obtain seed.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Gardeners’ Chronicle |
Date: | [before 11 Aug 1866] |
Classmark: | Gardeners’ Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette (1866): 756 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5188 |
To Fritz Müller 25 September [1866]
Summary
Fertilisation in orchids: Friedrich Hildebrand’s paper.
Self-sterility.
Climbing plants.
Agassiz’s attempts to eliminate all Darwinian views.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | 25 Sept [1866] |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 9) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-5216 |
letter | (35) |
Darwin, C. R. | (16) |
Moggridge, J. T. | (5) |
Müller, Fritz | (4) |
Darwin, W. E. | (3) |
Henslow, George | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (19) |
Müller, Fritz | (6) |
Darwin, W. E. | (3) |
Gardeners’ Chronicle | (2) |
Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
Darwin, C. R. | (35) |
Müller, Fritz | (10) |
Darwin, W. E. | (6) |
Moggridge, J. T. | (5) |
Darwin, H. E. | (2) |
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was …
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 …
Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings
Summary
‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I am merely slaving over the sickening work of preparing new Editions …
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 …
John Lort Stokes
Summary
John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not always an enviable position. After Darwin’s death, Stokes penned a description of their evenings spent working at the large table at the centre, Stokes at his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Lort Stokes, naval officer, was Charles Darwin’s cabinmate on the Beagle voyage – not …
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…
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- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical …
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
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- … The following extracts and selected letters explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual …
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…
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- … The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was …
Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species , published in 1877, …
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 , …
Floral Dimorphism
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…
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- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Floral studies In 1877 …
1.14 William Richmond, oil
Summary
< Back to Introduction William Blake Richmond’s portrait of Darwin, dating from 1879, celebrated his honorary degree of LL.D (Doctor in Laws), awarded by Cambridge University in 1877. Darwin’s return to his alma mater for the presentation ceremony…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction William Blake Richmond’s portrait of Darwin, dating from 1879, …
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 …
Bartholomew James Sulivan
Summary
On Christmas Day 1866, Bartholomew Sulivan sat down to write a typically long and chatty letter to his old friend, Charles Darwin, commiserating on shared ill-health, glorying in the achievements of their children, offering to collect plant specimens, and…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On Christmas Day 1866, Bartholomew Sulivan sat down to write a typically long and chatty letter to …
Dipsacus and Drosera: Frank’s favourite carnivores
Summary
In Autumn of 1875, Francis Darwin was busy researching aggregation in the tentacles of Drosera rotundifolia (F. Darwin 1876). This phenomenon occurs when coloured particles within either protoplasm or the fluid in the cell vacuole (the cell sap) cluster…
Matches: 1 hits
- … By John Schaefer, Harvard University* Charles Darwin’s enthusiasm for carnivorous …
Species and varieties
Summary
On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most famous book, and the reader would rightly assume that such a thing as ‘species’ must therefore exist and be subject to description. But the title continues, …or…
Matches: 1 hits
- … On the origin of species by means of natural selection …so begins the title of Darwin’s most …
Francis Darwin
Summary
Known to his family as ‘Frank’, Charles Darwin’s seventh child himself became a distinguished scientist. He was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, initially studying mathematics, but then transferring to natural sciences. Francis completed…
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- … Known to his family as ‘Frank’, Charles Darwin’s seventh child himself became a distinguished …
Darwin's 1876 letters online
Summary
Birth, tragic death . . . and cardigan jackets. To mark the 211th anniversary of Darwin's birth, we have released online the transcripts and footnotes of over 460 letters written to and from him in 1876 and a supplement of 180 letters written before…
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- … Birth, tragic death . . . and cardigan jackets. To mark the 211th anniversary of Darwin's birth, …
How old is the earth?
Summary
One of Darwin’s chief difficulties in making converts to his views, was convincing a sceptical public, and some equally sceptical physicists, that there had been enough time since the advent of life on earth for the slow process of natural selection to…
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- … One of Darwin’s chief difficulties in making converts to his views, was convincing a sceptical …
The origin of language
Summary
Darwin started thinking about the origin of language in the late 1830s. The subject formed part of his wide-ranging speculations about the transmutation of species. In his private notebooks, he reflected on the communicative powers of animals, their…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin started thinking about the origin of language in the late 1830s. The subject formed part of …