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Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts
Summary
At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…
Matches: 17 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition …
- … that is something’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [22 January 1869] ). Much of the remainder of …
- … to be the case’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 January 1869 ). Hooker went straight to a crucial …
- … probable’ (see also letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 January [1869] , and letter from A. R. Wallace, …
- … in distribution’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Darwin had argued ( Origin , pp. …
- … formation’ ( letter to James Croll, 31 January [1869] ). Croll could not supply Darwin with an …
- … would no doubt do if we had proper data to go by, but don’t think we have got that yet’ ( letter …
- … to see Thomson’s work challenged by both Thomas Henry Huxley and Wallace. He confided to Huxley, ‘I …
- … been less deferential towards [Thomson]’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 19 March [1869] ). …
- … and fossil discoveries in Patagonia and Wales ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 7 May 1869 , letter …
- … part at Darwin’s most outspoken British supporter, Thomas Huxley, whose address ‘The physical basis …
- … “punctum saliens” of the whole meeting was decidedly Huxley’s answer to D r M c Cann. He …
- … man’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 7 September 1869 ). Huxley playfully groused that as usual …
- … greater fools of themselves than they did’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 28 September 1869 ). …
- … into which … I do not care to follow him’ ( letter from T. H. Farrer, 9 October 1869 ). Farrer …
- … Freedom and Will and High Design—’ (letter from T. H. Farrer, 13 October 1869). …
- … to set foot on summit of a mountain.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 9 July [1869] ). Earlier …
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: 12 hits
- … Crichton-Browne, James 20 May 1869 32 Queen Anne St. …
- … Crichton-Browne, James 19 May 1869 West Riding …
- … Gray, Asa 9 May [1869] [Alexandria, Egypt] …
- … Gray, Jane 9 May [1869] [Alexandria, Egypt] …
- … Gray, Asa 8 & 9 May 1869 Florence, Italy (about …
- … Christchurch, New Zealand doesn't answer queries but includes list of men …
- … King, P.G. 25 Feb 1869 Sydney, Australia …
- … Maudsley, Henry 20 May 1869 32 Queen Anne St. …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 17 Jan 1869 Sierra Leone, Africa …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 28 June [1869] Sierra Leone, …
- … Reade, Winwood W. 26 Dec 1869 Sierra Leone, Africa …
- … Scott, John 2 July 1869 Royal Botanic Gardens, …
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: 19 hits
- … by observation during prolonged intervals’ ( letter to D. T. Gardner, [ c . 27 August 1874] ). …
- … researcher Frederick William Henry Myers, and Thomas Henry Huxley, who sent a long report to Darwin …
- … Mr Williams was ‘a cheat and an imposter’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 27 January 1874 ). Darwin …
- … that he was thus free to perform his antics’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 29 January [1874] ). This …
- … allowed ‘a spirit séance’ at his home ( letter from T. G. Appleton, 2 April 1874 ). Back …
- … sweetly all the horrid bother of correction’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 21 [March 1874] ). The …
- … and disease in the Sandwich Islands (Hawaii; letters from T. N. Staley, 12 February 1874 and …
- … additions to Descent was an eight-page note written by Huxley with the aim of ending a dispute …
- … ape and human brains, he asked for a clarifying note from Huxley (Desmond and Moore 2004, pp. xxxv …
- … anatomists; and never mind where it goes’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 16 April 1874 ). The …
- … conciseness & clearness of your thought’ ( letter from G. H. Darwin, 20 April 1874 ). …
- … the spread of various mental and physical disorders (G. H. Darwin 1873b). In July 1874, an anonymous …
- … generous Darwin by his previous anonymous attacks ([Mivart] 1869; 1871c). In his review, Mivart …
- … over the ‘scurrilous libel’ on his son ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [27 July 1874] ). George, …
- … accusation of [a] lying scoundrel’ ( letter to G. H. Darwin, 1 August [1874] ). He drafted a brief …
- … with Murray on the outcome ( enclosure to letter from G. H. Darwin, 6 [August] 1874 ): …
- … published views. In December, he sought advice from Huxley and Hooker, sending them a draft …
- … of Hooker’s and Huxley’s representations ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 22 December [1874] ). Huxley …
- … the offender & give him the cold shoulder’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 23 December 1874 ). He …
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: 24 hits
- … Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August 1849] Darwin thanks Mary Whitby …
- … in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October 1862] …
- … Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9 May 1869] Jane Loring Gray, …
- … pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H., [30 January 1868] …
- … Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. to Darwin, H. E., [after 14 October 1869] …
- … Letter 9426 - Story-Maskelyne , T. M. to Darwin, [23 April 1874] Thereza …
- … buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to Darwin, [September 1874] …
- … patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin, [16 July 1863] …
- … Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July 1869] John Scott responds to Darwin’s …
- … Women: Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] …
- … Letter 4823 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] Darwin’s niece, Lucy, …
- … Leith Hill Place. Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] …
- … Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] Amy Ruck reports the …
- … in a tin box. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to Darwin, [September 1874] …
- … Letter 1113 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [2 September 1847] Darwin questions Mrs. …
- … “eyebrows”. Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] …
- … with minnows. Letter 2781 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [3 May 1860] …
- … suggestion. Letter 5254 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin, [23 October 1866] …
- … those at Kew. Letter 6139 - Doubleday, H. to Darwin, [22 April 1868] …
- … can understand it. Letter 3896 - Darwin to Huxley, T. H, [before 25 February 1863] …
- … daughter, Henrietta. Letter 4010 - Huxley, T. H. to Darwin, [25 February 1863] …
- … critic”. Letter 5585 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [26 July 1867] Darwin …
- … Letter 1113 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [2 September 1847] Darwin asks Mrs. Whitby …
- … - Darwin to Gunther, A. C. L. G., [21 September 1869] Darwin asks Gunther for “a great …
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: 20 hits
- … Charles Lyell, the respected geologist, and Thomas Henry Huxley, the zoologist and anatomist. Lyell …
- … a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] . When Huxley’s book described the detailed …
- … views of human dignity and intelligence, exclaiming to Huxley: ‘I declare I never in my life read …
- … circles following the publication of Lyell’s and Huxley’s books. Three years earlier Darwin …
- … earlier in the century. Lyell’s Antiquity of man and Huxley’s Evidence as to man’s place in …
- … would sway many towards a new way of thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see …
- … Antiquity of man of the ongoing debate between Owen, Huxley, and others concerning the comparative …
- … is’, Hooker wrote to Darwin, ‘I suppose it is virtually Huxley’s writing, & that L. will find …
- … on this subject seems to get rarer & rarer’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 18 April [1863] ), …
- … for the Natural History Review ( see letter to H. W. Bates, 12 January [1863] ). Darwin added …
- … [9 May 1863] ). The others listed were himself, Hooker, Huxley, Alfred Russel Wallace, and John …
- … to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] , and memorandum from G. H. Darwin, [before 11 May 1863]) . …
- … Another criticism that continued to exercise Darwin was Huxley’s assertion, first made in his 1860 …
- … were either unable to cross or else formed sterile hybrids. Huxley made this point again in his six …
- … at the end of 1862, and published as a book in early 1863 (T. H. Huxley 1863a). Though Darwin was …
- … natural sterility of species, when crossed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 10 [January 1863] ). He …
- … man’s place in nature was published in February 1863, Huxley again argued that natural selection …
- … species could be produced by selective breeding. Huxley’s criticism provided additional …
- … both self-pollination and cross-pollination ( letter to P. H. Gosse, 2 June [1863] ). The …
- … and Lyell’s Antiquity of man ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 25 February 1863 , and letter …
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: 3 hits
- … of the same species would give rise to fertile progeny (T. H. Huxley 1860, pp.562-5). He later …
- … inter se) have ever been produced from a common stock’ (T. H. Huxley 1860, p. 198). In Origin , p …
- … on hybridity in the new edition of Origin . He encouraged Huxley to read it, noting, ‘ Asa Gray …
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: 18 hits
- … witlings of the newspaper press’ ( letter from A. T. Rice, 4 February 1882 ). Rice looked to …
- … for him, as he has allied himself to so dreadful a man, as Huxley’ ( letter to John Collier, 16 …
- … person’. The two men also agreed on the deficiencies of Huxley’s argument that animals were …
- … ( letter from John Collier, 22 February 1882 ; T. H. Huxley 1881, pp. 199–245). Huxley used …
- … to William Jenner, 20 March [1882] ; see also letter from T. L Brunton, 12 February 1882 , and …
- … to G. H. Darwin, [ c . 28 March 1882] (DAR 210.3: 45)). Huxley urged Darwin to consult another …
- … can be placed to look after your machinery (I daren’t say automaton ) critically’ ( letter from …
- … were more automata in the world like you’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 27 March 1882 ). Darwin …
- … Natural History, that I went as Naturalist on the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle round the World & …
- … a few letters shortly after the publication of Origin . Huxley had written a number of glowing …
- … circle; I cannot tell how or where to begin’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 21 [January 1860] ). Darwin …
- … years following Origin, a number of Darwin’s friends, Huxley, John Lubbock, and Charles Lyell, …
- … he attracted many admirers in German-speaking countries. In 1869, his birthday was celebrated by an …
- … vol. 17, letter from F. M. Malven, 12 February [1869] ). An extract from Darwin’s reply to Malven …
- … with his’ ( letter to F. M. Malven, [after 12 February 1869] ). Accompanying this extract was the …
- … some of whom drew substantially on his theory. In 1869, Hermann Müller (brother to Fritz) sent …
- … of Darwinian theory to flowers and flower-visiting insects; H. Müller 1869)). Darwin was full of …
- … at least be a valid ground for divorce’ ( letter to H. K. Rusden, [before 27 March 1875] ). In …
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 13 hits
- … for a US edition had been in place since December 1869, while German, Russian, French, and Dutch …
- … her liking, ‘to keep in memory of the book’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871 ). …
- … letter from W. B. Dawkins, 23 February 1871 ). Thomas Henry Huxley marvelled that Darwin had been …
- … th . ancestor lived between tide-marks!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 February 1871 ). Asa Gray …
- … Mivart. An expert on primates and a former protegé of Huxley’s, Mivart had written several articles …
- … Agassiz, Abraham Dee Bartlett, Albert Günther, George Busk, T. H. Huxley, Osbert Salvin, and William …
- … , published the following year. Darwin was also pleased that Huxley took up the defence in an …
- … and misquoting of both Darwin and Catholic theology (T. H. Huxley 1871). Huxley judged Mivart to be …
- … ‘accursed Popery and fear for his soul’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley and H. A. Huxley, 20 September …
- … who was ‘as good as twice refined gold’ ( letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 September [1871] ). …
- … up to the last with quinine & sherry’ ( letter from H. E. Litchfield to Charles and Emma Darwin …
- … from Napoleon de la Fleurière, 8 April [1871] ); while Huxley looked forward two thousand years, …
- … themselves with the reflection that ‘Truth doesn’t die’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 28 September …
Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution
Summary
The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 12 hits
- … roles in creating a private memorial fund for Thomas Henry Huxley, and in efforts to alleviate the …
- … flower would become modified & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August 1873 ). …
- … throat like a bulldog” ( letter from L. M. Forster to H. E. Litchfield, 20 February 1873 ). The …
- … could be transmitted to its offspring ( letter from J. T. Moggridge, 1 February 1873 ). …
- … line of research he had begun with Hereditary genius (1869), Galton tried to establish the …
- … a large sum in his own name. Together with Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin drafted an appeal to …
- … it would offend his father ( enclosure to letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 December 1873 ). In …
- … conversation with Emma Darwin, and Darwin began to sound out Huxley’s friends on the matter. The …
- … from J. D. Hooker, [7 April 1873] ). A group of Huxley’s close friends, including Hooker, …
- … happiness to us to the last day of our lives” ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 23 April 1873 ). Huxley …
- … been without energy & without hope” ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 24 April 1873 ). He accepted …
- … to starve sweat & purge it away” ( letter from G. H. Darwin, [1 October 1873] ). He also …
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
Matches: 1 hits
- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
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,…
Suggested reading
Summary
Contemporary writing Anon., The English matron: A practical manual for young wives, (London, 1846). Anon., The English gentlewoman: A practical manual for young ladies on their entrance to society, (Third edition, London, 1846). Becker, L. E.…
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: 6 hits
- … on them. Nevertheless, his work in 1864 contributed to his 1869 paper focusing on the role of …
- … about the matter was eased when his cause was taken up by Huxley, whose critical notice of Flourens …
- … its death blow’ with the publication of Origin (T. H. Huxley 1864a, p. 567). In 1864, …
- … had continued to grow following the 1863 publication of Huxley’s Evidence as to man’s place in …
- … volume on prehistoric humans to Darwin, and Hooker discussed Huxley’s heated dispute with officers …
- … had there been any failure of justice’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 4 November 1864 ). …
Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 3 hits
Was Darwin an ecologist?
Summary
One of the most fascinating aspects of Charles Darwin’s correspondence is the extent to which the experiments he performed at his home in Down, in the English county of Kent, seem to prefigure modern scientific work in ecology.
Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
