To J. D. Hooker 12 August 1881
Summary
Responds to JDH on history of plant geography.
Opinion of Humboldt.
Origin of higher phanerogams.
Importance of the occurrence of south temperate forms in the Northern Hemisphere.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 12 Aug 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 95: 524–7 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13288 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … see Hooker 1863 and Correspondence vol. 11, letter to J. D. Hooker, [9 May 1863] , and …
- … 1880 ( Correspondence vol. 28). In his letter of 11 August 1881 , Hooker remarked that …
- … See letter from J. D. Hooker, 11 August 1881 . Axel Blytt and Blytt 1876 . See letter to …
- … 6 August 1881 and n. 6, and the letter from J. D. Hooker, 11 August 1881 and n. 4. James …
To W. E. Darwin 4 August [1881]
Summary
Reports on a luncheon of scientific savants at which the Crown Prince of Germany [and Prince of Wales?] were present.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 4 Aug [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 181 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13274 |
To Josef Popper 15 February 1881
Summary
Cannot help JP [with bird-powered flying machine].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Josef Popper (Josef Popper-Lynkeus) |
| Date: | 15 Feb 1881 |
| Classmark: | Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology MSS 405 A. Gift of the Burndy Library) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13054 |
From W. E. Darwin 13 January [1881]
Summary
He is buying a portable fire engine, and suggests one is purchased for Down. Wishes to join the Geological Society of London. Is eager to hear Leslie Stephen’s opinion.
| Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Jan [1881] |
| Classmark: | Cornford Family Papers (DAR 275: 86) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13010F |
To Fritz Müller 23 February 1881
Summary
CD interested by FM’s facts on movement of plants; has sent some to Nature ["Movement of leaves", Collected papers 2: 228–9]. Greatly admires FM’s work. Suggests an experiment to investigate movement in Phyllanthus.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | 23 Feb 1881 |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 49) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13064 |
To Fritz Müller 20 March 1881
Summary
FM’s view on meaning of two-coloured stamens in many flowers; CD has been looking through his old notes on dimorphism for supporting evidence. Intends to send extract of FM’s letter to Nature or to Linnean Society.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | 20 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 50) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13091 |
From Leslie Stephen 12 January [1881]
Summary
Advises CD to "take no notice of Butler whatever" and gives his reasons.
| Author: | Leslie Stephen |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 12 Jan [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 92: B68–71 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13008 |
To W. E. Darwin 14 January [1881]
Summary
Discusses earthworm activity
and animal grazing on slopes.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Jan [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 171 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13013 |
From Archibald Geikie 14 November 1881
Summary
Thanks CD for offer of assistance in exploration of Eskdale beds. Describes finds of scorpions and unusual amphibians.
| Author: | Archibald Geikie |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 14 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 27 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13484 |
From W. M. Hacon 13 September 1881
Summary
Drafting new will as CD requested.
| Author: | William Mackmurdo Hacon |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 13 Sept 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 166: 27 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13335 |
To G. J. Romanes 2 September 1881
Summary
Unable to contribute an essay to a symposium on the subject of vivisection. Objects to use of term "symposium".
Mentions articles of Hermann Müller.
Death of his brother Erasmus [26 Aug 1881].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | George John Romanes |
| Date: | 2 Sept 1881 |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.597) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13312 |
To C. E. Norton 1 June 1881
Summary
No Benjamin Franklin letters to Erasmus Darwin preserved.
Was inaccurate about Franklin’s nephews [in Erasmus Darwin].
Recounts story about Franklin at court of France.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Eliot Norton |
| Date: | 1 June 1881 |
| Classmark: | Houghton Library, Harvard University (Charles Eliot Norton Papers, MS Am 1088.14: 1599) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13187 |
To T. H. Farrer 28 August 1881
Summary
More on W. Graham’s book, The creed of science. Chance and design. Happiness.
E. A. Darwin’s death [26 Aug 1881].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer |
| Date: | 28 Aug 1881 |
| Classmark: | Linnean Society of London (LS Ms 299/33) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13299 |
To E. R. Lankester 13 October [1881]
Summary
Says that salt water kills earthworms.
Interested in ERL’s study of worm anatomy.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Edwin Ray Lankester |
| Date: | 13 Oct [1881] |
| Classmark: | DAR 146: 33 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13396 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … this letter and the letter from E. R. Lankester, 11 October 1881 . See letter from E. …
- … 11 October 1881 and n. 2; Lankester mentioned a species of worm resistant to salt water. Lankester did not publish further on worm anatomy; his earlier work on the subject was Lankester 1864–5 . Francis Darwin was visiting his deceased wife’s family ( letter …
From W. E. Darwin [16 January 1881]
Summary
Thanks CD for writing for papers to enter Geological Society. Will return Leslie Stephen’s letter. Has had a severe frost. Emma’s puppy died.
| Author: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [16 Jan 1881] |
| Classmark: | Cornford Family Papers (DAR 275: 100) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13023F |
From T. L. Brunton 17 October 1881
Summary
Thanks CD for a copy of Earthworms.
| Author: | Thomas Lauder Brunton, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 17 Oct 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 160: 345 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13408 |
To W. E. Darwin 20 May [1881]
Summary
Discusses his investments.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 20 May [1881] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.590) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13167 |
To Fritz Müller 13 November 1881
Summary
Is experimenting with effect of ammonium carbonate on chlorophyll and roots, but finds the results confusing.
Julius von Wiesner has published a book reinterpreting CD’s observations in Movement in plants [see 13422].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | 13 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 56) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13481 |
To Ernst Krause 29 January 1881
Summary
Sends copy of Nature in which EK’s letter, translated by Balfour, is printed. Thanks him. Now feels easy.
G. J. Romanes’ language in his review of Butler’s book [Unconscious memory] is perhaps too strong. Butler’s vanity is a "real psychological curiosity".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Ernst Ludwig (Ernst) Krause |
| Date: | 29 Jan 1881 |
| Classmark: | The Huntington Library (HM 36213) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13032 |
To F. M. Balfour 12 January 1881
Summary
Asks FMB to translate letter from Ernst Krause [answering criticisms by Samuel Butler] and to send it to Nature [ "Unconscious memory – Mr Samuel Butler" 23 (1881): 288].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Maitland Balfour |
| Date: | 12 Jan 1881 |
| Classmark: | National Records of Scotland (GD433/2/103C/3) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13007 |
| letter | (81) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (40) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (4) |
| Hacon, W. M. | (4) |
| Brunton, T. L. | (3) |
| Krause, Ernst | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (38) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (5) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (4) |
| Darwin, Francis | (3) |
| Darwin, G. H. | (3) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (78) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (9) |
| Hacon, W. M. | (5) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (5) |
| Romanes, G. J. | (5) |
The Lyell–Lubbock dispute
Summary
In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book Prehistoric times, accused Lyell of plagiarism. The dispute caused great dismay among many of their mutual scientific friends, some of whom took immediate action…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In May 1865 a dispute arose between John Lubbock and Charles Lyell when Lubbock, in his book …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … In March 1862, Heinrich Georg Bronn wrote to Darwin stating his intention to prepare a second …
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 …
Darwin in letters, 1862: A multiplicity of experiments
Summary
1862 was a particularly productive year for Darwin. This was not only the case in his published output (two botanical papers and a book on the pollination mechanisms of orchids), but more particularly in the extent and breadth of the botanical experiments…
Matches: 1 hits
- … As the sheer volume of his correspondence indicates, 1862 was a particularly productive year for …
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: 1 hits
- … At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of …
Darwin's 1874 letters go online
Summary
The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1874 through his letters and see a full list of the letters. The 1874 letters…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The full transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1874 …
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 …
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: 1 hits
- … When Darwin resumed systematic research on emotions around 1866, he began to collect observations …
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,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letters | Selected Readings Darwin's first reflections on human progress were …
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 …
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I cannot bear to think of the future The year 1876 started out sedately enough with …
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: 1 hits
- … no little discovery of mine ever gave me so much pleasure as the making out the …
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 …
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 …
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 …
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: 1 hits
- … Re: Design – performance version – 25 March 2007 – 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the …
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation …
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: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
