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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: 25 hits

  • evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost
  • … (1875) and  Cross and self fertilisation  (1876). Darwins son Francis became increasingly
  • career to become his fathers scientific secretary. Darwin had always relied on assistance from
  • Franciss decision. A large portion of the letters Darwin received in 1873 were in response
  • the previous year. As was typical, readers wrote to Darwin personally to offer suggestions, …
  • some of which were incorporated in a later edition. Darwin also contributed to discussions in the
  • Francis Galtons work on inherited talent, which prompted Darwin to reflect on the traits and
  • Station at Naples. Plants that eat and feel? Darwin had resumed experiments on the
  • to have observed” ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] ).  Drosera  was the main focus of
  • and alkaloids, and even electrical stimulation. On sending Darwin a specimen of the carnivorous  …
  • leaf & branch!” ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 12 January 1873 ). Darwin found that the
  • to bend inward, so that the plant closed like a fist. Darwin was fascinated by this transmission of
  • copy of the  Handbook for the physiological laboratory  (1873), a detailed guide to animal
  • Darwins other main focus of botanical investigation in 1873 was cross- and self-fertilisation, work
  • … & correlated” ( letter to T. H. Farrer, 14 August 1873 ). Darwin worried, however, that
  • when it will be ready” ( letter to John Murray, 4 May [1873] ). Keeping it in the family
  • their burrows” ( letter from Francis Darwin, 14 August [1873] ). In September, Darwin
  • will be created” ( letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 ). Erasmus, who had studied medicine
  • work” ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 25 September [1873] ).  Shortly afterwards, it was arranged for
  • 1872 and sold quickly. He wrote to Hooker on 12 January [1873] , “Did I ever boast to you on the
  • anonymously in the  Edinburgh Review  in April ([Baynes] 1873). Darwin asked one of his Scottish
  • before hand” ( letter to George Cupples, 28 April [1873] ). Readers' lives
  • early April by Katharine Murray Lyell in conversation with Emma Darwin, and Darwin began to sound
  • and 19 December 1873 ). Ffinden replied tersely to Emma Darwin, stating that he objected to
  • on public grounds” ( letter from G. S. Ffinden to Emma Darwin, 24 December 1873 ).  Later

Dining at Down House

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life While Darwin is best remembered for his scientific accomplishments, he greatly valued and was strongly influenced by his domestic life. Darwin's…

Matches: 15 hits

  • Questions | Experiment Dining, Digestion, and Darwin's Domestic Life
  • chance for what share of happiness this world affords." ( Darwin to H.W. Bates , 26
  • and they partook in his scientific endeavours. One of Darwin's defining characteristics
  • through his correspondence. Letters written to and from Darwin, as well as those exchanged between
  • provides into the bright and engaging personalities of the Darwin children and of family life in the
  • SOURCES Book Darwin, Charles. On the Origin of Species . 1859. London: John
  • Dining at Down House Letter 259Charles Darwin to Caroline Darwin, 13 October
  • South American cities, cultures, geography, flora and fauna) Darwin complains to his sister Caroline
  • traveling on horseback while ill. Letter 465Emma Wedgwood (Emma Darwin) to Charles
  • agreeablefor her sake. Letter 3626Emma Darwin to T. G. Appleton, 28 June [1862] …
  • on the difficulties of finding a suitable cook. Emma Darwin to Henrietta Darwin, [4
  • among other things, for Darwins complaints. Emma Darwin to Henrietta Darwin, [14 April
  • who was travelling in the south of France at the time, Emma describes typical nineteenth-century
  • Scottish medium, Daniel Dunglass Home, with Galton. Emma Darwin to Henrietta Darwin, [4
  • taste of Darwin's life at Down House, recreate recipes from Emma Darwin's cookbook and

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: 24 hits

  • 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working
  • dispute over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwins son George dominated the second
  • and traveller Alexander von Humboldts 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a reflection on his debt
  • … ). The death of a Cambridge friend, Albert Way, caused Darwins cousin, William Darwin Fox, to
  • from W. D. Fox, 8 May [1874] ).  Such reminiscences led Darwin to the self-assessment, ‘as for one
  • I feel very old & helpless The year started for Darwin with a weeks visit to
  • Andrew Clark, whom he had been consulting since August 1873. Darwin had originally thought that
  • …  ( letter to B. J. Sulivan, 6 January [1874] ). Darwin mentioned his poor health so frequently in
  • 1874 ). Séances, psychics, and sceptics Darwin excused himself for reasons of
  • by George Henry Lewes and Marian Evans (George Eliot), but Darwin excused himself, finding it too
  • the month, another Williams séance was held at the home of Darwins cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood. Those
  • had suggested a new edition of the coral book in December 1873, when he realised the difficulty a
  • …  vol. 21, letter to Smith, Elder & Co., 17 December [1873] ). Darwin himself had some trouble
  • of human evolution and inheritance himselfIn August 1873, he had published in the  Contemporary
  • satisfaction. Assisted in the wording by his wife, Emma, and daughter Henrietta, he finally wrote a
  • a comfortable cabin ( see letter from Leonard Darwin to Emma Darwin, [after 26 June -- 28 September
  • to become Darwins secretary. They rented Down Lodge and Emma Darwin wrote, ‘They have . . . made
  • the average in prettiness & snugness’ ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October
  • the use of the Down schoolroom as a winter reading room in 1873 (see  Correspondence , vol. 21, …
  • dead uncles position of vicar of Deptford ( letter from Emma Darwin to J. B. Innes, 12 October
  • … ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 20 July [1874] ). In 1873, Hooker had begun a series of
  • …  vol. 21, letter from Francis Darwin,  [11 October 1873] ). Darwin wasted several weeks in
  • Moulinié, who had died after a period of ill health in 1873Edmond Barbier corrected defects in
  • was a copy of Joseph Simmss book on physiognomy (Simms 1873), which contained Darwins portrait to

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: 20 hits

  • … |  Editors and critics  |  Assistants Darwins correspondence helps bring to light a
  • community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women
  • Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August 1849] Darwin
  • peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October
  • garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [6 June 1864] Darwins
  • … . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to Darwin, [after February 1867] Mary Barber
  • her observations on the expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676
  • Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, [1873] Ellen Lubbock, wife of naturalist
  • Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 July 1873] Mary Treat reports in detail on her
  • 1868] Darwins nephew, Edmund, writes to Emma Darwins sister, Sarah, with observations of
  • Darwins nephews, Edmund and Charles, write to Emma Darwins sister, Sarah, with observations of
  • Wedgwood, S. E. & J. to Darwin, [10 November 1837] Emmas sister, Sarah, passes on
  • Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 July 1873] Mary Treat provides a detailed
  • E. to Darwin, W. E., [January 23rd 1887]: Emma Darwin tells her eldest son, William, …
  • E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March, 1862 - DAR 219.1:49) Emma Darwin updates her son, William, …
  • is a great critic”, thought the article worth reprinting, Emma was less convinced. Letter
  • 9156  - Wallace, A. R . to Darwin, [19 November 1873] Wallace reassures Darwin that
  • 9157  - Darwin to Da rwin, G. H., [20 November 1873] Darwin offers the work of
  • Letter 8719  - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 January 1873] Darwin gives Mary Treat close
  • 9157  - Darwin to Da rwin, G. H., [20 November 1873] Darwin offers the work of

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)

Summary

George Eliot was the pen name of celebrated Victorian novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880). She was born on the outskirts of Nuneaton in Warwickshire and was educated at boarding schools from the age of five until she was 16. Her education ended when she…

Matches: 4 hits

  • novels, under her pen name, achieved great acclaim. Darwin and his family were keen readers
  • Sunday afternoons, when they received visitors (23 March 1873; Emma described his visit in a letter
  • was positive, also encouraging him to call again and bring Emma. In fact, Emma and her younger
  • started ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] ). Darwin took Emma to a Sunday afternoon at

Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots

Summary

Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…

Matches: 25 hits

  • There are summaries of all Darwin's letters from the year 1879 on this website.  The full texts
  • 27 of the print edition of The correspondence of Charles Darwin , published by Cambridge
  • to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an
  • the sensitivity of the tips. Despite this breakthrough, when Darwin first mentioned the book to his
  • 1879 ). He was also unsatisfied with his account of Erasmus Darwin, declaring, ‘My little biography
  • a holiday in the Lake District in August did little to raise Darwins spirits. ‘I wish that my
  • W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26] July [1879] ). From July, Darwin had an additional worry: the
  • that his grandfather had felt the same way. In 1792, Erasmus Darwin had written: ‘The worst thing I
  • contained a warmer note and the promise of future happiness: Darwin learned he was to be visited by
  • Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). Seventy years old Darwins seventieth birthday on 12
  • the veteran of Modern Zoology’, but it was in Germany that Darwin was most fêted. A German
  • but made up for her lack by pointing out that her cousin Emma Nixon hadthe enviable talent of
  • and letter from Leonard Darwin, [before 12 July] 1879 ). Emma Darwin also thought the text needed
  • of radicles were sensitive ( letter from Francis Darwin to Emma Darwin, 30 June 1879 ). It was
  • Nonetheless, Darwin endured a three-hour delay better than Emma Darwin, and Bernard proved to be a
  • and after Farrers second marriage to Darwins niece in 1873 the Darwins had stayed at the Farrers’ …
  • insisted that all contact between Horace and Ida must cease. Emma Darwin persuaded her husband to
  • some consequence when you are not likely to make money’ (Emma Darwin to Sara Darwin, [1 July 1879] …
  • … ‘Nothing can be more useless than T.Hs conduct’, Emma Darwin pointed out, ‘He has no intention of
  • to be able to say that he has opposed it’ (letter from Emma Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [4 August 1879] …
  • was delighted to get home ‘& began drumming at once’ (Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [27
  • A. Pitman, [13 May 1879] ). In the end, he did attend, with Emma Darwin insisting that they combine
  • of laws he had received from Cambridge University in 1877. Emma Darwin recorded that Darwin found
  • with the gown because it dominated the picture (letter from Emma Darwin to H. E. Litchfield, [17
  • Evidently hoping to curtail the correspondence, Emma Darwin replied on 8 April stating that

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 …

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: 25 hits

  • Re: DesignAdaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and othersby Craig
  • as the creator of this dramatisation, and that of the Darwin Correspondence Project to be identified
  • correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring
  • Actor 1Asa Gray Actor 2Charles Darwin Actor 3In the dress of a modern day
  • Louis Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart Mill, Emma Darwin, Horace Darwinand acts as
  • the play unfolds and acting as a go-between between Gray and Darwin, and between the audience and
  • this, he sends out copies of his Review of the Life of Darwin. At this time in his life, Asa
  • friends in England, copies of hisReview of the Life of Darwin’… pencilling the address so that it
  • Joseph D Hooker GRAY:   3   Charles Darwinmade his home on the border of the little
  • are kept in check by a constitutional weakness. DARWIN: A plain but comfortable brick
  • by every blessing except that of vigorous healthDARWIN4   My confounded stomach
  • pursuits and the simplicity of his character. DARWIN:   5   I am allowed to work now
  • own house, where he was the most charming of hosts. DARWIN:   6   My life goes on
  • being a part of [an unpublished] manuscript. Darwin settles down to write. His tone is
  • THE CONCURRENCE OF BOTANISTS: 1855 In which Darwin initiates a long-running correspondence
  • gossip about difficult colleagues (Agassiz). Gray realizes Darwin is not revealing all of his
  • man, more formally attired and lighter on his feet than Darwin. He has many more demands on his time
  • catches his attention. He opens the letter. DARWIN8   April 25 th 1855. My
  • filled up the paper you sent me as well as I could. DARWIN10   My dear Dr Gray. I
  • is condensed in that little sheet of note-paper! DARWIN11   My dear HookerWhat
  • surprising good. GRAY:   12   My dear Mr Darwin, I rejoice in furnishing facts to
  • Thank God he will never suffer more in this world. Poor Emma behaved nobly and how she stood it all
  • DARWINMy wifes remark on reading this, was EMMA: Why, you know nothing about Logic. …
  • GRAY (BOSTON, 1893) 2A GRAY TO CLARA ?, 3 MARCH 1873 3 A GRAY. MEMOIR OF
  • … & 1 MARCH 1870 197 A GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 3 JULY 1873 198  TO A GRAY 5

Religion

Summary

Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…

Matches: 13 hits

  • … the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same …
  • … nineteenth century were different in important ways. Many of Darwin's leading supporters were …
  • … their religious beliefs with evolutionary theory. Darwin's own writing, both in print and …
  • … much as possible. A number of correspondents tried to draw Darwin out on his own religious views, …
  • … political contexts. Design Darwin was not the first to challenge …
  • … on the controversial topic of design. The first is between Darwin and Harvard botanist Asa Gray, …
  • … second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. Wallace to Darwin on design and natural selection. …
  • … of each fragment at the base of my precipice”. Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 …
  • … fittest” instead of “Natural Selection”. Wallace urges Darwin to stress frequency of variations. …
  • … of his own family. Letter 441 — Wedgwood, Emma to Darwin, C. R., [21–22 Nov 1838] …
  • … conscientious doubts”. Letter 471 — Darwin, Emma to Darwin, C. R., [c. Feb 1839] …
  • … Letter 8837 — Darwin, C. R. to Doedes, N. D., 2 Apr 1873 Darwin explains the impossibility of …
  • … 9122 — Darwin, C. R. to Down School Board, [Nov–Dec 1873] Darwin, Sir John Lubbock, Ellen …

1.2 George Richmond, marriage portrait

Summary

< Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more may once have existed. In a letter of 1873 an old Shrewsbury friend, Arthur Mostyn Owen, offered to send Darwin a watercolour sketch of him, painted many years…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … &lt; Back to Introduction Few likenesses of Darwin in his youth survive, although more
  • is unknown.   Thus the surviving portraits of Darwin as a young manother than cartoon
  • House, celebrated his marriage in January 1839 to his cousin Emma Wedgwood; the one of Darwin is
  • work can be gauged from a letter which Hooker wrote to Darwin some years later, complaining, with
  • But despite this tendency to prettify, Richmond registered Darwins receding hairline, and the
  • February 1839, Elizabeth Wedgwood had written to her sister Emma: ‘My father says he should like to
  • Italyor would a portrait by Holmes be preferable?’ Emma in response promised, ‘I will go and get
  • 1839. Josiah Wedgwood himself wrote to his daughter Emma in 1840, asking her to commission Richmond
  • portraits dating from 1840 which is now at Down House had a Darwin family provenance. After Susan
  • arrangingto send you Richmonds pictures of self and Emma’: ‘selfpresumably means Charles, and
  • and from this he established the dates of various Darwin family commissions. In 1840 there were
  • Erasmus was entered separately at £31 10 s .) andMrs. Darwin’, and this must be the Down House
  • of twelve guineas for a second portrait ofMrs Charles Darwinfollowed in 1842. Perhaps this
  • in format and composition to the documented 1840 portrait of Darwin is also at Down House
  • reproduced as the frontispiece to Nora Barlows edition of Darwins Beagle diary in 1933: she
  • the Down House portraits after they were removed from Susan Darwins house in 1866 is also confusing
  • lent Richmonds watercolour drawings of Charles and Emma, with a note that the one of Charles had an
  • … – the only one she knew aboutto 1840. However, in Emma Darwin: A Century of Family Letters
  • Arthur Mostyn Owen, letters to Darwin, 21 and 28 May, 1873 (DCP-LETT-8917 and DCP-LETT-8926). …
  • Murray, 1887), vol. 3, p. 371. Henrietta Litchfield (ed.), Emma Darwin: A Century of Family

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: 7 hits

  • … Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those …
  • … a broad variety of women had access to, and engaged with, Darwin's published works. A set of …
  • … women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • … that his views are original and will appeal to the public. Darwin asks Murray to forward the …
  • … and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] …
  • … typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] …
  • … - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. E., [20 February 1873] Henrietta’s friend, Laura, …

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: 10 hits

  • On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London
  • and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863
  • Chapman wasnt the first medical practitioner Darwin contacted around this timeIn 1863, Darwin
  • however, his health grew worse.  In hisJournal’, Darwin wrote that he fell ill again on 22 April
  • more attacks of vomiting and seeking another opinion, Darwin wrote to ChapmanOn the day that
  • adult life (the section, ‘I feel nearlyfood’, is in Emma Darwins hand). Darwin began the
  • given up the treatment (see letter from Charles and Emma Darwin to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865]). …
  • Busk, 28 April 1865). In November and December 1863, Darwin had consulted the stomach
  • D. Hooker, 26[-7] March [1864] ( Correspondence vol. 12), Darwin remarked that Jenner had found
  • Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, Darwin Evolution Collection (3314) and is

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…

Matches: 22 hits

  • The story of Charles Darwins involvement with the church is one that is told far too rarely. It
  • unique window into this complicated relationship throughout Darwins life, as it reveals his
  • belief (and doubt) than many non-conformist denominations. Darwins parents attended a Unitarian
  • the necessary studies to be a clergyman. During Darwins lifetime, the vast majority of the
  • income was essential to enjoy a gentlemanly lifestyle. For Darwin, who could rely on the financial
  • compatible with the pursuit of scientific interests. Indeed, Darwins Cambridge mentorJohn Stevens
  • … (Blackwoods Edinburgh Magazine (1887): 321). Darwin started on his journey around the world
  • it even through a grove of Palms.—’ (letter to Caroline Darwin, 256 April [1832] ). Darwins
  • Museum or some other learned place’ (letter from E. A. Darwin, 18 August [1832] ). Writing to Fox
  • about—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, [912 August] 1835 ). Darwins doubts about orthodox belief, and
  • the late 1830s, and in correspondence with his fiancéeEmma Wedgwood, in 1838 and 1839, as can be
  • within six years of his return from the  Beagle  voyage, Darwin moved to Down House, in the
  • of England. The whole family took the sacrament, although Emma used to make the children turn around
  • where their children Mary and Charles were buried; later Darwins brother Erasmus, Emmas sister
  • church involvement can be attributed to the influence of Emma, whose religious scruples are
  • Although he was not the principal landowner in Down, Darwin was a gentleman of means, and clearly
  • made inroads on Anglican authority in the countryside. The Darwin family took an interest in, and
  • Ffinden strongly disapproved of the Darwins. In his eyes, Emmas Unitarian leanings and Darwins
  • schools in this period, the Down school was Anglican. Emma wished it to be used as a reading room
  • … (letter to Down School Board, [after 29 November 1873] ). Ffinden fiercely resented Darwin for
  • even altered the habits of the household in order to allow Emma and the children to attend his
  • increase his desire to actually attend Sunday services with Emma and the children. Darwins life in

Darwin as mentor

Summary

Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…

Matches: 12 hits

  • Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific …
  • … Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin …
  • … on insufficient grounds. Letter 3934 - Darwin to Scott, J., [21 January 1863] …
  • … material worthy of publication. Letter 4185 - Darwin to Scott, J., [25 & 28 May …
  • … worker you are!”. Letter 7605 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [20 March 1871] …
  • … book’s “lucid vigorous style”. In consultation with Emma, Darwin offers Henrietta “some little …
  • … so many observations without aid. Letter 8146 - Darwin to Treat, M., [5 January 1872] …
  • … scientific journal”. Letter 8171 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L., [21 January 1872] …
  • … stooping over holes for hours which “tried my head”. Darwin notes that Lucy is worth her weight in …
  • … he had repeated the experiment. Letter 9580 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H. D., [1 August …
  • … be submitted to the publisher. Letter 9613 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [30 August 1874 …
  • … that it ought to be published. Letter 10523 - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 June 1876] …

Insectivorous plants

Summary

Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…

Matches: 22 hits

  • Darwins work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in
  • illness, probably typhoid fever. While caring for Etty, Darwins wife Emma wrote to a friend: …
  • suppose he hopes to end in proving it to be an animal.’ ( Emma Darwin 2: 177) By the end
  • …  In this song the lyrics are based on Darwin's statements about insectivorous plants in his
  • exchanging over twenty letters in the autumn of 1860 alone. Darwin started by asking Oliver to
  • as the Australian Drosera , and tried to reproduce Darwins results on the reaction of
  • certain nitrogenous compounds is marvellous. ’ Darwin turned his attention to the mechanism
  • viscid, dark red fluid. ’ By the end of November Darwin wrote to Charles Lyell: ‘ I will
  • of the Royal Society in February 1861 (Bonney 1919, p. 154), Darwin decided not to publish his
  • son Leonards and wifes recovery from scarlet fever , Darwin began experiments with various
  • analogous in constitution &amp; function to nervous matter. ’ Darwin wrote to the surveyor Edward
  • plants for 10 years. Early in 1872, Asa Gray reminded Darwinpray dont run off on some
  • about Drosera &amp; Dionæa ’. By August and September, Darwin was ordering essential oils and
  • New Jersey with these remarkable observations and Darwin asked her to observe the North
  • sundew) . As part of his medical training, Darwins son Francis studied histology at the
  • performing comparative experiments on animals. After Darwin had sent Burdon Sanderson an abstract of
  • was so pleased with his results he excitedly telegraphed Darwin and presented them in paper to
  • Brown Institutions staff, Thomas Lauder Brunton, assisted Darwin with the digestibility of chondrin
  • of Chemistry Edward Frankland supplied pure chemicals for Darwins study of digestion and
  • substance . After many careful experiments, in May 1874 Darwin proudly reported to his cousin
  • … (the genus of tropical pitcher-plants) in parallel with Darwins study of Drosera and Dionaea
  • as your finger nail in 48 hours to lovely jelly ’, while Darwin could only reply: ‘ Poor Drosera

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: 20 hits

  • When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect
  • ease of distribution sometime in late 1867 or early 1868. Darwin went over his questions, refining
  • was the collection of observations on a global scale. Darwin was especially interested in peoples
  • cultural and conventional, or instinctive and universal. Darwin used his existing correspondence
  • and with the mouth a little drawn back at the corners?” Darwins questionnaire was an extension of
  • was also carefully devised so as to prevent the feelings of Darwins remote observers from colouring
  • and not the susceptibilities of a moral nature.” Darwin did not typically countenance such
  • the collection of information to its display in print. After Darwin received all of the replies to
  • exceptyesorno.” “The same state of mindDarwin would later assert in Expression of the
  • uniformity.” Table of Correspondence about Darwins Questionnaire (click on the letter
  • could available online ahead of schedule as part of theDarwin and Human Natureproject, funded by
  • Southampton, England letter to W.E. Darwin shrugging/pouting of
  • blushing Darwin, Francis 20 June 1867
  • Bartlett and S. Sutton Darwin, Francis
  • pouting Darwin, W.E. [after 29 March 1868] …
  • blushing in blind students Darwin, W.E. [7
  • blushing Darwin, W.E. [22? April 1868] …
  • Abbey Place, London, England letter to Emma Darwin baby expression
  • Penmaenmawr, Conway, Wales letter to Emma Darwin infant daughter
  • Weale, J.P.M. [Jan 1873] Bedford, Cape of Good Hope, …

Darwin and vivisection

Summary

Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…

Matches: 21 hits

  • Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke
  • on live animals in Britain. In December 1874, Darwin was asked to sign a memorial by the
  • draft legislation that would protect animals from suffering. Darwin was sympathetic to the cause, …
  • … (letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January [1875] ). Darwin also worried that any bill passed by a
  • to T. H. Huxley, 14 January 1875 ). In the event, Darwin became closely involved with the
  • for assistance in preparing a bill for Parliament. Darwin almost never involved himself in
  • recent research on insectivorous plants. Indeed, some of Darwins plant experiments, such as
  • for the physiological laboratory (Klein et al . 1873), which became a focus of criticism in the
  • and because it failed to mention anaesthetics. Darwins indebtedness and allegiance to
  • subscriber to the RSPCA, he had campaigned with his wife Emma against the use of steel traps on game
  • to put an end to any suffering before his eyes’. Darwin was clearly disturbed by the prospect
  • to E. R. Lankester, 22 March [1871] ). In the same year, Darwin had published Descent of man , …
  • some animals possessed social sympathies akin to conscience. Darwin even described an animal
  • 1: 40).  Vivisection was a sensitive subject within Darwins family. In his letter of 14
  • of a network of reformers and philanthropists that included Darwins brother, Erasmus, and his
  • … (men of course) or I might get one or two’ (letter from Emma Darwin to F. P. Cobbe, 14 January
  • after night, prepares and sets instruments of torture’ ( Emma Darwin (1904) 2: 201). …
  • … (letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 12 February 1875 ). Darwin was in London from 31 March to 12
  • to Burdon Sanderson, who drafted a memorial, sending it to Darwin on 7 April (letter from J. S. …
  • was prepared with the legal assistance of Lushington and Darwins son-in-law Richard Buckley
  • sought from somehalf dozen eminent scientific men’. Darwin sent a copy to Joseph Dalton Hooker

Interview with John Hedley Brooke

Summary

John Hedley Brooke is President of the Science and Religion Forum as well as the author of the influential Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, 1991). He has had a long career in the history of science and…

Matches: 27 hits

  • is [part of] a series of interviews that is hosted by the Darwin Correspondence Project about Darwin
  • of science ? and this is a question raised in a debate in Darwins day. Im not thinking of the more
  • takes place later in the 19th century, over spiritualism. Darwins close scientific colleague and
  • eventually engrossed, in spiritualism. He first writes to Darwin about this in 1869, and this is
  • these are better explained by the action of a higher power. Darwin is clearly shocked by this, and
  • scientifically. We tend to think always in terms of Darwin as the great scientist and Wallace as
  • of spirit agency guiding the process of evolution. Darwin himself, of course, resisted that
  • 4. Patterns in the response to Darwin Dr White: We know, partly from your own
  • specific religious traditions and their attitudes towards Darwin. I think its fairly obvious that
  • tradition ? you can look at the Presbyterian response to Darwin, for example, as David Livingstone
  • of ultra-conservatives who felt that science in the shape of Darwin was actually destructive of the
  • White: Id just like to follow up on that a bit more. Darwin had a number of clerical
  • one, Frederick Farrar was another ? and we know that Emma and Charles both read works of
  • is a willingness, as it were, to be fellow travellers with Darwin ? a willingness to see the world
  • ideas of human evolution in general ? and the sense in which Darwin, of course, reinforced them ? …
  • dilemma, and its exactly that kind of dilemma that Darwin finds engaging, enthralling, but also
  • or certain of them failed to come to terms with the Darwin mechanism ? correctly formulated ? we
  • liberal Anglicans didnt really understand exactly what Darwin had said or didnt know quite how
  • the first to the sixth edition of the Origin of Species, Darwin himself retreats somewhat over the
  • White: Another feature of some liberal Anglicanism in Darwins day was a particular emphasis on
  • toward a higher being, or a sense of ultimate purpose. Emma Darwins faith seems to be based largely
  • … ? were these addressed in theology? We know that they gave Emma considerable discomfort. …
  • the world is. Its also perfectly true, as you say, that Emma experienced considerable discomfort, …
  • at the heart, here, of some very sensitive issues between Emma and Charles himself. You ask, …
  • It was of major significance for Darwin himself, and for Emma, and its very striking that those who
  • this was very much the case for him as well. Much later, in 1873, Darwin advises his son George
  • were family reasons: he didnt wish to inflict pain on Emma and other members of the family. I think

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: 26 hits

  • Editions Plants always held an important place in Darwins theorising about species, and
  • his periods of severe illness. Yet on 15 January 1875 , Darwin confessed to his close friend
  • way to continuous writing and revision, activities that Darwin found less gratifying: ‘I am slaving
  • bad.’ The process was compounded by the fact that Darwin was also revising another manuscript
  • coloured stamens.’ At intervals during the year, Darwin was diverted from the onerous task of
  • zoologist St George Jackson Mivart. In April and early May, Darwin was occupied with a heated
  • chapter of the controversy involved a slanderous attack upon Darwins son George, in an anonymous
  • on 12 January , breaking off all future communication. Darwin had been supported during the affair
  • Society of London, and a secretary of the Linnean Society, Darwins friends had to find ways of
  • pp. 1617). ‘How grandly you have defended me’, Darwin wrote on 6 January , ‘You have also
  • in public. ‘Without cutting him direct’, he advised Darwin on 7 January , ‘I should avoid him, …
  • … &amp; again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January 1875 ). Darwin had also considered taking up
  • … , ‘I feel now like a pure forgiving Christian!’ Darwins ire was not fully spent, however, …
  • in the same Quarterly article that attacked George. Darwin raised the matter at the end of the
  • to rest, another controversy was brewing. In December 1874, Darwin had been asked to sign a memorial
  • Hensleigh and Frances Wedgwood. She had corresponded with Darwin about the evolution of the moral
  • could not sign the paper sent me by Miss Cobbe.’ Darwin found Cobbes memorial inflammatory
  • memorial had been read in the House of Lords (see &#039; Darwin and vivisection &#039;).   …
  • medical educators, and other interested parties. Darwin was summoned to testify on 3 November. It
  • … ( Report of the Royal Commission on vivisection , p. 183). Darwin learned of Kleins testimony
  • heavily on his son Francis, who had made the decision in 1873 to abandon his medical studies and
  • and the local vicar George Sketchley Ffinden resurfaced. In 1873, Charles and Emma Darwin and the
  • and the Darwins did not warm thereafter. On 24 December , Emma wrote triumphantly to the former
  • the upper ranks of society could be especially taxing. As Emma remarked in a letter to William on 1
  • Henry Eeles Dresser. ‘The horror was great’, Henrietta Emma Litchfield wrote to her brother Leonard
  • on the digestive properties of Nepenthes since 1873. ‘You are aware that Dr Hooker has worked

Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours

Summary

Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…

Matches: 27 hits

  • Ever since the publication of Expression , Darwins research had centred firmly on botany. The
  • of these projects would culminate in a major publication. Darwins botany was increasingly a
  • assisted his fathers research on movement and bloom, and Darwin in turn encouraged his sons own
  • The year 1877 was more than usually full of honours. Darwin received two elaborate photograph albums
  • from Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Closer to home, Darwin received an honorary Doctorate of
  • sites for possible earthworm activity. Now in his 69th year, Darwin remained remarkably productive, …
  • no controversy. In his autobiographical reflections, Darwin remarked: ‘no little discovery of
  • … (‘Recollections’, p. 419). During the winter and spring, Darwin was busy preparing the manuscript of
  • and presented to the Linnean Society of London. In the book, Darwin adopted the more recent term
  • as dimorphic without comparing pollen-grains &amp; stigmas’, Darwin remarked to Joseph Dalton
  • measurements of the size and number of pollen-grains, Darwin compared the fertility of individual
  • primrose and purple loosestrife. In the course of his work, Darwin found a number of other
  • dreadful work making out anything about dried flowers’, Darwin complained to Asa Gray on 8 March
  • which include heterstyled species. This pleases me.’. Darwin dedicated the book to Gray, ‘as a small
  • separate publications together into a larger whole enabled Darwin to advance more speculative views
  • both pollen and seeds’ ( Forms of flowers , p. 344). Darwin was typically pessimistic about the
  • be sold’. His publisher knew from previous experience that Darwin was a poor judge of sales, and
  • after completing his manuscript of Forms of flowers , Darwin took up the problem ofbloomin
  • characteristic whose purpose was little understood. Darwin had begun studying bloom in August 1873, …
  • exchanged between Down and Kew over the next six months. Darwin corresponded most often with the
  • been for your kindness, we sh d . have broken down’, Darwin wrote back on 5 September . ‘As it
  • injury from pure water resting on leaves’. In the end, Darwin did not publish on the subject, but
  • on leaves and the distribution of the stomata’ (F. Darwin 1886). Alongside his work on bloom, …
  • closely to the leaves and required a tolerable shake’. Darwin gained another valuable observer in
  • T. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 August 1877 ). At Down House, Darwin and Francis devised a method of
  • … [1877] ). In the end, Darwin made the journey along with Emma. George, Francis, and Horace also
  • Cambridge Chronicle , 24 November 1877, p. 4). According to Emma, Darwin remainedquite stout and
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