To William Ogle 25 March [1871]
Summary
Asks WO to act out the sudden discovery of a dreadful object and to observe whether his platysma contracts. CD has found in his notes that it is never contracted in cases of severe dyspnoea [Expression, p. 301].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Ogle |
Date: | 25 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 261.5: 9 (EH 88205907) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7622 |
From H. E. Darwin to Emma Darwin [March 1871]
Author: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
Addressee: | Emma Wedgwood; Emma Darwin |
Date: | [Mar 1871] |
Classmark: | Cornford Family Papers (DAR 275: 22) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7605G |
From James Murie 2 March 1871
Summary
Thanks for Descent.
He is "driven" from his post.
He has homologised the face muscles of cetaceans and man. Although the former do not show expression, the nose and upper lip muscles are highly developed.
Author: | James Murie |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Mar 1871 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 321 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7531 |
To William Ogle 18 March [1871]
Summary
Agrees that in a deaf person the jaw may fall because of concentrated attention.
In surprise, mouth is opened suddenly and chest filled with air. This expression occurs in all parts of the world. Odd that so simple a movement is so perplexing to understand.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Ogle |
Date: | 18 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 261.5: 8 (EH 88205906) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7596 |
To P. B. Mason 24 March [1871]
Summary
Interested in occurrence of hair on backs of weakly children. Asks PBM if he would report particulars of any case he observes during next 6–12 months.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Philip Brookes Mason |
Date: | 24 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | Cleveland Health Sciences Library (Robert M. Stecher collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7615 |
To A. D. Kindermann [27 March 1871]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Adolph Diedrich Kindermann |
Date: | [27 Mar 1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 96: 98 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7629 |
To Erasmus Wilson 29 March [1871]
Summary
Wonders whether correspondent might possibly know of any cases in which intense concentration of the mind on one portion of the skin produces dilation of the capillary vessels and hence reddening of the area.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William James Erasmus (Erasmus) Wilson |
Date: | 29 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 96: 99 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7639 |
To James Crichton-Browne 28 March [1871]
Summary
Asks whether capillary circulation is ever influenced by the mind’s being directed intently to any part of the body.
Has JC-B ever seen idiots blush? JC-B’s MS on blushing is capital.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | James Crichton-Browne |
Date: | 28 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 143: 335 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7635 |
To William Turner 28 March [1871]
Summary
Discusses errors in Descent. Not surprised that WT is not committed to full acceptance of evolution of man.
At work on Expression. Asks about muscles that raise spines of hedgehog and tail coverts of peacock. Asks about influence of mind on capillaries with regard to blushing. Mentions views of James Paget on influence of the mind on nutrition of body parts.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Turner |
Date: | 28 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | The University of Edinburgh Centre for Research Collections (Dc.2.96/5/4a) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7632 |
From James Crichton-Browne [29–31 March 1871]
Author: | James Crichton-Browne |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | [29–31 Mar 1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 161: 324 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7649 |
To William Ogle 7 March [1871]
Summary
Will write again to Tyndall about odours.
Asks for the circumstances under which WO saw a man arrested for murder; quotes from notes he made from WO’s conversation [Expression, p. 294].
Also would like to quote WO on the expression of resignation by persons about to undergo serious operations [Expression, p. 271].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Ogle |
Date: | 7 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 261.5: 6 (EH 88205904) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7551 |
To G. B. A. Duchenne about 10 March [1871]
Summary
Asks permission to copy plates from GBAD’s work [Mécanisme de la physionomie humaine (1862)] to illustrate Expression.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Guillaume Benjamin Amand Duchenne |
Date: | about 10 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 96: 103–8 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7566 |
From F. S. B. F. de Chaumont to W. E. Darwin 11 March 1871
Summary
In response to queries on expression, which WED had asked on CD’s behalf, reports on shrugging and pouting observed in his children.
Author: | Francis Stephen Bennet François de Chaumont |
Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
Date: | 11 Mar 1871 |
Classmark: | DAR 162: 135 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7573 |
To F. du C. Godman 4 March [1871]
Summary
Has forwarded FDuCG’s book [Natural history of the Azores (1870)] to Dr Hartlaub.
Asks about eyes of camel when the animal is uttering a loud sound.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Frederick Du Cane Godman |
Date: | 4 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.363) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7543 |
To J. D. Hooker 21 March [1871]
Summary
Asks name of an Abutilon from Fritz Müller.
Questions about Drosophyllum for experiments;
the meaning of "Sirdar".
Wonderful success of Descent. Astonished by liberality of public. No abuse yet.
Marvels at JDH’s plans for a trip to Morocco. Asks him to look for alpine insects.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 21 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 94: 190–192 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7607 |
From Robert Swinhoe 14 March 1871
Summary
Is leaving for Ningpo; asks CD for another copy of his [Queries about expression], which he will try to answer.
Author: | Robert Swinhoe |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 14 Mar 1871 |
Classmark: | DAR 177: 335 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7580 |
To Francis Darwin 25 March [1871]
Summary
If FD gets the chance, will he observe whether the platysma contracts in a shivering fit? Wants much to know whether the platysma of frightened patients contracts before chloroform is given.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
Date: | 25 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 271.3: 2 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7626 |
To James Crichton-Browne 26 March [1871]
Summary
Has sent photographs of insane woman to be engraved. Assumes JC-B has no objection.
Is making immense use of JC-B’s MS. The book ought to be described as "by Darwin & Browne".
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | James Crichton-Browne |
Date: | 26 Mar [1871] |
Classmark: | DAR 143: 341 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8253 |
To Joseph Wolf 3 March 1871
Summary
Asks for a drawing from life of a "laughing monkey" (Cynopithecus niger) for Expression [p. 136].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Wolf |
Date: | 3 Mar 1871 |
Classmark: | Palmer 1895, p. 193 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7535 |
To F. C. Donders 18 March 1871
Summary
Comments on FCD’s 1848 work [see 7582] in which he came near to anticipating CD.
Comments on FCD’s paper [on action of the eyelids, see 7203]. Asks about contraction or dilation of the iris due to emotional states, illness, or prostration.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Frans Cornelis (Franciscus Cornelius) Donders |
Date: | 18 Mar 1871 |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-7595 |
Darwin, C. R. | (18) |
Alglave, Émile | (1) |
Crichton-Browne, James | (1) |
Darwin, H. E. | (1) |
Duchenne, G. B. A. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
Ogle, William | (4) |
Crichton-Browne, James | (2) |
Duchenne, G. B. A. | (2) |
Darwin, Emma | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (24) |
Ogle, William | (4) |
Crichton-Browne, James | (3) |
Duchenne, G. B. A. | (3) |
Alglave, Émile | (1) |
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 …
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 …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The …
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 …
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 …
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … If I lived 20 more years, & was able to work, how I sh d . have to modify the “Origin”, & …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, seeing the publication of his …
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 …
St George Jackson Mivart
Summary
In the second half of 1874, Darwin’s peace was disturbed by an anonymous article in the Quarterly Review suggesting that his son George was opposed to the institution of marriage and in favour of ‘unrestrained licentiousness’. Darwin suspected, correctly,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In 1874, the Catholic zoologist St George Jackson Mivart caused Darwin and his son George serious …
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: 1 hits
- … On 6 March 1868, Darwin wrote to the entomologist and accountant John Jenner Weir, ‘If …
John Maurice Herbert
Summary
John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately called ‘Cherbury’ by Darwin, a reference to the seventeenth-century philosopher Edward Herbert, Baron Cherbury, who, like John Herbert, hailed from…
Matches: 1 hits
- … John Maurice Herbert was a close friend of Darwin’s at Cambridge University. He was affectionately …
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Earthworms and Wedgwood cousins …
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: 1 hits
- … Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The following extracts and selected letters explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual …
Survival of the fittest: the trouble with terminology Part II
Summary
The most forceful and persistent critic of the term ‘natural selection’ was the co-discoverer of the process itself, Alfred Russel Wallace. Wallace seized on Herbert Spencer’s term ‘survival of the fittest’, explicitly introduced as an alternative way of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … This term is the plain expression of the facts,—Nat. selection is a metaphorical …
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, …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The power of movement in plants , published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical …
4.14 'Fun' cartoon, 'That troubles'
Summary
< Back to Introduction Of all the cartoons showing Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles our monkey again’ by John Gordon Thomson is the only one that hints, albeit playfully, at improper behaviour. Descent of Man had been criticised for its apparent…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction Of all the cartoons showing Darwin as an ape, ‘That troubles …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of …
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 …