To Francis Darwin 25 July [1878]
Summary
Is forwarding the writing machine to Carl Semper.
Is glad FD has taken up his old friends, the twiners.
Hopes to get heliotropic aerial roots from J. D. Hooker. Asks FD to find out whether any moulds or roots are apheliotropic. Is puzzled by heliotropism in subterranean roots.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 25 July [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 40 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11631 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Hooker. Asks FD to find out whether any moulds or roots are apheliotropic. Is puzzled by …
- … possibly can find out from Sachs whether any moulds are apheliotropic, & whether any roots …
- … I wrote last I found old note by Dyer about mould turning to light, & I must modify the …
- … 20 [July 1878] , in which CD wondered why moulds would turn towards light if it was of no …
- … expressed his views on heliotropism in moulds in his letter of 11 May 1878 . Joseph Dalton …
To Francis Darwin 20 [July 1878]
Summary
Has offered Carl Semper the writing machine.
Speculates on the mechanism of movement in plants and their reception of and response to stimuli.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 20 [July 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 38 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11620 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … see why some aerial roots sh d be anheliotropic— Again why does mould turn to light: is …
- … light of any use to mould, & does it not properly grow exclusively in dark. So many organs …
- … essential for photosynthesis in green plants, its benefit for moulds was uncertain. Sydney …
- … Vines’s research on the movement of moulds ( Vines 1878 ) suggested that heliotropism …
From Francis Darwin 24 and 25 July 1878
Summary
Notes Julius Sachs’s opinion on the heliotropism of moulds: he can see no use in the response.
C. E. Stahl is working on swarm spores which can be made both helio- and apheliotropic.
Sachs has told him that some ferns sleep, and he suspects that some grasses may move.
Sachs also feels they may be working at bloom from a wrong point of view and suggests leaves may need to keep dry in order to keep their stomata open.
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 and 25 July 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 60, DAR 209.6: 198 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11628 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Sachs’s opinion on the heliotropism of moulds: he can see no use in the response. C. E. …
- … talk to Sachs about heliotropism & he thinks it is no good to moulds to be heliotropic, …
- … he says that moulds which you find inside wallnuts or apples are highly heliotropic. …
- … He does not remember ever having seen a mould heliotropic in a state of nature but only …
From Francis Darwin [4–7 August 1878]
Summary
Experiments on effects of removing "bloom" from leaves and fruit.
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [4–7 Aug 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 162: 57 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11632 |
Matches: 4 hits
From Francis Darwin [before 3 August 1878]
Summary
Sachs jumps to the conclusion twiners and tendrils are similar from the Menispermum that twined without a stick. Akebia grows down a stick; not only the free end is involved.
Sleeping plants.
| Author: | Francis Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [before 3 Aug 1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 209.8: 152 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11638 |
To Sophy Wedgwood 24 March [1878–80]
Summary
Asks her to observe seedlings of Neottia breaking the surface to see whether the flower stems grow straight up or form arches, and whether they secrete water that softens the surrounding ground.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Katherine Elizabeth Sophy (Sophy) Wedgwood |
| Date: | 24 Mar [1878-80] |
| Classmark: | Cambridge University Library (MS Add. 4251: 333) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11442 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … I think that the plants spring up in very loose mould chiefly formed of decayed leaves. …
From James Torbitt 24 February 1878
Summary
Wants CD to forward to Chancellor of Exchequer a letter which explains the progress he has made in his potato crossing. Wants to print a CD letter to arouse public interest in the work.
| Author: | James Torbitt |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 24 Feb 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 52: E2, DAR 178: 137 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11373 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … Phytophthora infestans ) is a species of oomycete or water mould parasitic on the potato. …
From J. D. Hooker 12 March 1878
Summary
Has written to Farrer in support of Torbitt’s grant.
Resistance of Liberian coffee to "fly" and susceptibility to fungus.
| Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Mar 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 104: 105–6 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11417 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … infestans ) is a type of oomycete or water mould parasitic on the potato, but at this time …
To A. S. Wilson 16 March [1878]
Summary
Thanks for second lot of Aegilops seed.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Alexander Stephen Wilson |
| Date: | 16 Mar [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 148: 363 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11427 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … are now in water! ) and all became a sheet of mould, so that I was in despair of even one …
From W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 11 May 1878
Summary
WTT-D’s statement perverted by Times [4 May 1878, p. 6, on WTT-D’s Royal Institution lectures on vegetable morphology].
S. H. Vines’s work on light inhibition of Phycomyces hyphae ["The influence of light upon the growth of unicellular organs" (1878), Arb. Bot. Inst. Würzburg 2 (1882): 133–47] suggests heliotropism in green plants is independent of, and more primitive than, photosynthesis.
Heliotropism in aerial roots.
Frank Darwin’s work.
| Author: | William Turner Thiselton-Dyer |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 11 May 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 209.8: 154 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11503 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … light on Phycomyces nitens (common pin mould) while studying at Julius Sachs’s laboratory …
To Francis Darwin 3 August [1878]
Summary
Is pleased FD’s climbing work goes well.
Thanks him for information on heliotropism.
Discusses sleep movements
and his observations on the sensitivity of radicle tips.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Aug [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 42 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11639 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1878] . CD had asked about heliotropism in moulds and roots in his letter to Francis of 25 …
To T. H. Farrer 7 March 1878
Summary
If THF and James Caird [Enclosure Commissioner] approve of enclosed letter, CD will send it to Hooker.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer |
| Date: | 7 Mar 1878 |
| Classmark: | DAR 144: 92; Linnean Society of London (MS 489) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11407 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … classified as a species of oomycete or water mould. See letter to T. H. Farrer, 2 March …
| letter | (12) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
| Darwin, Francis | (3) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (1) |
| Torbitt, James | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (6) |
| Darwin, Francis | (3) |
| Farrer, T. H. | (1) |
| Wedgwood, Sophy | (1) |
| Wilson, A. S. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (12) |
| Darwin, Francis | (6) |
| Farrer, T. H. | (1) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Thiselton-Dyer, W. T. | (1) |
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 7 hits
- … letters relating to Darwin's 1881 publication Vegetable mould and earthworms . …
- … casting fieldwork. Her work was referenced in Vegetable Mould and Earthworms but she was …
- … fieldwork. Her work is referenced in Vegetable Mould but she was identified only as …
- … fieldwork and observations are referenced in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12742 …
- … referenced the work of "My son Horace" in Vegetable Mould . Letter …
- … habits of worms” referenced anonymously in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12760 - …
- … William’s work is proudly referenced in Vegetable Mould . …
Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin wrote, snappily-titled The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , …
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: 5 hits
- … As his final published work, The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms was a …
- … Papers Darwin, C.R. 1840. On the formation of mould. Transactions of the Geological Society …
- … the hearing power of worms. In Chapter 1 of Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms , Darwin …
- … observe the effect of vibrations upon worms. In Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms Darwin wrote: …
- … vibrations! [1] Charles Darwin, Vegetable Mould and Earth-Worms (London: John …
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
- … Mary Tanner tells Darwin that she has read his Vegetable Mould and Worms “with great …
4.38 Franz Goedecker, caricature
Summary
< Back to Introduction In a caricature by the German artist Franz Goedecker, Darwin stands in front of a desk, confronting a monkey with a face resembling his own. It holds his book on earthworms, and is squatting on a copy of a German translation,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of Berlin. The reference to The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms fixes …
4.41 'Punch', Sambourne cartoon 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction In October 1881, Darwin was included in Linley Sambourne’s series of ‘Punch’s Fancy Portraits’ of celebrities as No. 54. While the caption recurs to the old theme of Darwin’s views on human ancestry, the drawing contains a more…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to his just-published book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. This …
Volume 29 (1881) is published!
Summary
In October 1881, Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. A slim volume on a subject that many people could understand and on which they had their own opinions, it went…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
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
- … of Darwin’s last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … between species. His last publication, The formation of mould through the action of earthworms …
The full edition is now online!
Summary
For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working to track down all surviving letters written by or to Charles Darwin, research their content, and publish the complete texts. The thirtieth and final…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to a review of his latest book, The formation of vegetable mould through the actions of worms , …
Bibliography of Darwin’s geological publications
Summary
This list includes papers read by Darwin to the Geological Society of London, his books on the geology of the Beagle voyage, and other publications on geological topics. Author-date citations refer to entries in the Darwin Correspondence Project’s…
Volume 28 (1880) now published
Summary
1880 opened and closed with an irksome controversy with Samuel Butler, prompted by the publication of Erasmus Darwin the previous year. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of Movement in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … began writing his final book, The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms . …
2.3 Wedgwood medallions
Summary
< Back to Introduction Despite Darwin’s closeness to the Wedgwood family, he was studiously uninterested in the productions of his maternal grandfather Josiah Wedgwood I, the immensely successful ceramic manufacturer. In a letter to Hooker of January…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the first wax model portraying Darwin; the plaster mould created from it; and a clay relief cast …
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
- … in Darwin’s last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , published …
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
- … sent Murray the manuscript of The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms ( …
Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers
Summary
In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…
Matches: 3 hits
2.8 Alphonse Legros medallion
Summary
< Back to Introduction The painter, printmaker and sculptor Alphonse Legros created this bronze medallion with a profile portrait of Darwin in 1881, shortly before the latter’s death. According to a friend of Legros, the writer Thomas Okey, it was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … individually modelled in relief and cast in bronze from a mould by the traditional lost-wax process, …
German poems presented to Darwin
Summary
Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…
Matches: 1 hits
- … on your dark grave,— Away with the delusion, the mould, It is the time of battle, …
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
- … Darwin and his unique public persona simply did not fit the mould of institutional, honorific …
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The fourth presented his hypothesis on the formation of mould by earthworms. This explanation of a …
