From T. F. Cheeseman 27 June 1873
Summary
Sends his paper on fertilisation of the New Zealand species of the orchid Pterostylis [Trans. & Proc. New Zealand Inst. 4 (1871): 270–84].
| Author: | Thomas Frederick Cheeseman |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 June 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 161: 137 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8955 |
To T. F. Cheeseman 9 September [1873]
Summary
Thanks TFC for his extremely interesting paper ["On the fertilisation of the New Zealand species of Pterostyles", Trans. & Proc. N. Z. Inst. 5 (1872): 352–7]. Has no doubt his explanation [of the fertilisation mechanism] is correct. The case is analogous to that of the Cypripedium though TFC’s case is much more curious.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Frederick Cheeseman |
| Date: | 9 Sept [1873] |
| Classmark: | Auckland War Memorial Museum Library Tāmaki Paenga Hira (T. F. Cheeseman Papers MS-58) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-9048 |
From J. T. Moggridge 22 July 1873
Summary
He will repeat the experiments in which CD found that formic acid vapour killed seeds [see 8866]. John Lindley describes effects of other acids on germination.
He has tabulated the large amount of variation in English Ophrys apifera.
| Author: | John Traherne Moggridge |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 22 July 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 219 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8984 |
From J. T. Moggridge 12 July 1873
Summary
Sends his paper on Ophrys insectifera, translated into German by H. G. Reichenbach [Abh. Kais. Leopold.-Carol. Dtsch. Akad. Naturforsch. 33 (1870) no. 3], which shows the intermediates between O. aranifera and O. apifera. He has since gathered information on variation in Ophrys.
| Author: | John Traherne Moggridge |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 July 1873 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 218 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8977 |
| letter | (4) |
| Moggridge, J. T. | (2) |
| Cheeseman, T. F. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (3) |
| Cheeseman, T. F. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (4) |
| Cheeseman, T. F. | (2) |
| Moggridge, J. T. | (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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … < 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … 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…
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- … Darwin started thinking about the origin of language in the late 1830s. The subject formed part of …
