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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: 19 hits
- … , Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and …
- … from a family that the Darwins had befriended. The year 1877 was more than usually full of honours. …
- … & stigmas’, Darwin remarked to Joseph Dalton Hooker on 25 January . He had been troubling …
- … of respect and affection’. He hinted as much in his letter of 4 June : ‘you will see I have done …
- … it is not likely that more than a few hundred copies w d . be sold’. His publisher knew from …
- … He requested a large number of plants from Hooker on 25 May , adding, ‘I often wish that I could …
- … to Down if it lay in my power and you thought it w d . help you.’ ‘I declare had it not been for …
- … of a very heavy shower’, William wrote on 24 August 1877 . ‘The leaves were not at all depressed; …
- … warned Thiselton-Dyer, who seems to have shared Hooker’s suspicion of ambitious gardeners ( letter …
- … … tap one of the young leaves with a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). …
- … fuller’s teasel ( Dipsacus sylvestris , a synonym of D. fullonum ). He thought that the …
- … to the Royal Society of London by Darwin, who confessed to Hooker on 25 January , ‘I know that it …
- … of its being printed in the R. Soc. Transactions, (sh d . the referees so order) would stimulate …
- … , or to the vibratory flagella of some Infusoria’ ( letter from F. J. Cohn, 5 August 1877 ). …
- … his sense of form and of motion was exact and lively’ ( letter from W. E. Gladstone, 23 October …
- … & offer himself you & me to dejeuner!!!’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 June 1877 ). …
- … the old story to be horsewhipped by a duke!’ ( letter to J. M. Rodwell, 3 June 1877 ). Back home, …
- … with wicked imprecations’ (Trollope 1867; letter to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 December 1877] ). …
- … without lying down to rest’, he explained ( letter to J. W. Clark, 12 November 1877 ). …
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: 15 hits
- … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
- … persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The …
- … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
- … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
- … than Origin had (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
- … the origin of species particularly, worried Darwin; he told Hooker that he had once thought Lyell …
- … wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February [1863] ). …
- … lack of expertise in the subject. ‘The worst of it is’, Hooker wrote to Darwin, ‘I suppose it is …
- … difficulty in answering Owen unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). Hugh …
- … credit to his own research and that of Joseph Prestwich. Hooker wrote: ‘I fear L. will get scant …
- … of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] ). …
- … to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
- … to capture his and others’ attention ( see letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , and letter …
- … a letter to the Athenæum in response ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 March [1863] ). He later …
- … partly composed such a good letter (!)’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). At the …
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…
Matches: 17 hits
- … his results. In March 1867, he told his close friend Joseph Hooker, ‘The only fact which I have …
- … produced by a cross between two distinct plants’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1867] ). He noted …
- … of France where Moggridge lived for part of the year ( To J. T. Moggridge, 1 October [1867] ). …
- … ‘I always supposed until lately that no evil effects w d be visible until after several …
- … flower. ‘How utterly mysterious it is’, he reported to Hooker, ‘that there sh d be some …
- … to impotence when taken from the same plant!’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 21 May [1868] ) Pollen tubes, or …
- … Darwin sent specimens of plants he raised from this seed to Hooker, who named it Abutilon darwinii …
- … a new species, & I am honoured by its name’, Darwin told Hooker, ‘It offers an instance, of …
- … the season it becomes capable of self-fertilisation’ ( To J. D. Hooker, 23 July [1871] ). Darwin …
- … with choosing which taxonomic system to follow ( To J. D. Hooker, 17 February 1873 ). Despite also …
- … & I have no idea when it will be published’ ( To J. V. Carus, 8 May [1873] ). Hermann Müller …
- … and not on ‘the evil effects of Interbreeding’ ( To J. V. Carus, 2 August [1873] ). In …
- … of plants.’ ( From Friedrich Hildebrand, 18 January 1877 ). Hermann Müller enthused that Darwin’s …
- … A. R. Wallace, 13 December 1876 ). No reply to this letter has been found, but Darwin had long …
- … my book’ ( To Gardeners’ Chronicle , 19 February [1877] ). In contrast, as Hooker told Darwin, …
- … gloats over it' ( From J. D. Hooker, 27 January 1877 ). Darwin was especially pleased with …
- … have quite eviscerated it’ ( To Asa Gray, 18 February [1877] ). By mid-March 1877, the edition was …
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: 22 hits
- … writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring Gray Louis Agassiz, Adam …
- … this actor uses the words of Jane Loring Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, …
- … of natural selection to his friend, the botanist, Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles …
- … year 1839, and copied and communicated to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a part of …
- … DARWIN: 7 January 1844. My dear Hooker. I have been …engaged in a very presumptuous work …
- … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
- … the opportunity I enjoyed of making your acquaintance at Hooker’s three years ago; and besides that …
- … sheet of note-paper! DARWIN: 11 My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind …
- … be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy it… His letter does strike me as most uncommonly …
- … on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year …
- … 22 Hurrah I got yesterday my 41st Grass! Hooker is younger than Darwin and Gray by …
- … species before… DARWIN: 24 My dear Hooker… you cannot imagine how pleased I am …
- … on your bowels of immutability. Darwin passes to Hooker a brace of letters 25 …
- … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
- … there is a little rap for you. GRAY: 26 Hooker [is] dreadfully paradoxical to …
- … as well as any man. I send it… Darwin passes to Hooker an envelope of seeds. …
- … Atlantic. HOOKER: 28 Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which …
- … notions of natural Selection and would see whether it or my letter bears any date, I should be very …
- … 55 My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter influenced by trumpery feelings. …
- … do a good deal to secure it. Darwin passes Gray’s letter to Hooker with a cringe. …
- … C DARWIN, 18–19 AUGUST 1862 149 C DARWIN TO J. D. HOOKER 26 JULY 1863 150 …
- … 1868 or 1869 190 C DARWIN TO A GRAY 8 MARCH 1877 191 A GRAY TO RW CHURCH, …
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…
Matches: 17 hits
- … on publishers, decried on one occasion by Joseph Dalton Hooker as ‘Penny-wise Pound foolish, …
- … Fuller consideration of Darwin’s work was given by Hooker in an evening speech on insular floras at …
- … able to write easy work for about 1½ hours every day’ ( letter to H. B. Jones, 3 January [1866] ). …
- … once daily to make the chemistry go on better’ ( letter from H. B. Jones, 10 February [1866] ). …
- … see you out with our beagles before the season is over’ ( letter from John Lubbock, 4 August 1866 …
- … work doing me any harm—any how I can’t be idle’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). …
- … production of which Tegetmeier had agreed to supervise ( letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 16 January …
- … continued to refine his hypothesis in 1866. He wrote to Hooker on 16 May [1866] , ‘I … am at work …
- … it was too big. ‘You must congratulate me’, he wrote to Hooker, ‘when you hear that I have sent M.S. …
- … of “Domestic Animals & Cult. Plants” to Printers’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1866] …
- … of Darwin’s closest scientific friends and correspondents. Hooker’s research on alpine floras, Henry …
- … more than the belief of a dozen physicists’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 February 1866] ). Darwin …
- … ‘Your father … entered at the same time with Dr B. J. who received him with triumph. All his friends …
- … me to worship Bence Jones in future—’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 13 May 1866 ). Darwin himself …
- … then went for ¾ to Zoolog. Garden!!!!!!!!!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [28 April 1866] ). …
- … tell him the truth how little exertion I can stand. I sh d like very much to see him, though I …
- … & admit how little is known on the subject’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 and 4 August [1866] ). …
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: 18 hits
- … of the five physicians Darwin had consulted in 1863. In a letter of 26[–7] March [1864] , Darwin …
- … and he received more letters of advice from Jenner. In a letter of 15 December [1864] to the …
- … As Darwin explained to his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of 30 November [1864] , ‘the …
- … observations indoors ( Correspondence vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin …
- … gradation by which leaves produce tendrils’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [8 February 1864] ). …
- … peduncles to test sensitivity, and in his request to Hooker for another specimen: ‘I want it …
- … matters which routinists regard in the light of axioms’ ( letter from Daniel Oliver, [17 March 1864 …
- … plant morphology. Many of his other correspondents, such as Hooker and Gray, had grown accustomed to …
- … long series of changes . . .’ When he told Asa Gray in a letter of 29 October [1864] that he was …
- … the Lythrum paper was published, Darwin remarked to Hooker in a letter of 26 November [1864] …
- … of dimorphic and trimorphic plants’), and later in his 1877 book, The different forms of flowers on …
- … in the second edition of Orchids , published in 1877. These publications were partly inspired by …
- … with his stipend being paid by Darwin himself ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [1 April 1864] ). …
- … often at odds with one another: ‘Gardeners are the very d—l, & where two or three are gathered …
- … enough to play your part over them’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [2 April 1864] ). …
- … … they do require very careful treatment’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 8 April 1864 ). Nevertheless …
- … that in giving I am hastening the fall’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 20 April 1864 ). In his …
- … a first-class cabin for the journey ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [15 August 1864] ). Darwin …
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…
Matches: 13 hits
- … | Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a …
- … and personal friends; Asa Gray and Joseph Dalton Hooker . The letters interweave family news, …
- … role of sympathy in Darwin's work and in his friendship with J. D. Hooker. Notice how Darwin …
- … findings on floral dimorphism were eventually published in 1877, but these experiments and …
- … SOURCES Book Darwin, C. R. 1877. The different forms of flowers on plants of the …
- … Dimorphic Plants: Primulaceae Letters Letter Packet: Floral Dimorphism …
- … and the appearance of his new Orchid book. Letter 3515 - Daniel Oliver to Darwin, 23 …
- … find anything distinctly dimorphic in the Oxalis. Letter 3757 - Joseph Dalton Hooker to …
- … work in comparison to Darwin’s. Remember, however, that Hooker and Darwin were very close and Darwin …
- … letters to Asa Gray? Is it similar to his way of writing to Hooker? Why do you think these …
- … family, his personal health, and his botanic work all in one letter? Why or why not? …
- … experiment, the class read chapter 1 of Charles Darwin’s 1877 T he Different Forms of …
- … Flowers on Plants of the Same Species (London: John Murray, 1877), 16. [2] Ibid., 30. …
Capturing Darwin’s voice: audio of selected letters
Summary
On a sunny Wednesday in June 2011 in a makeshift recording studio somewhere in Cambridge, we were very pleased to welcome Terry Molloy back to the Darwin Correspondence Project for a special recording session. Terry, known for his portrayal of Davros in Dr…
Matches: 4 hits
- … seeking permission to go on the Beagle voyage, to a letter to C. A. Kennard written on 9 …
- … from the youthful exuberance of the Beagle letters (e.g. letter to Caroline Darwin, 29 April …
- … that led up to his ‘confessing a murder’ in his famous letter to J. D. Hooker, in which he admitted …
- … who was proofreading a draft chapter of Descent (letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
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…
Matches: 18 hits
- … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
- … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
- … Henry Huxley, William Benjamin Carpenter, and Joseph Dalton Hooker. Others were not quite as …
- … cannot expect fairness in a Reviewer’, Darwin commented to Hooker after reading an early notice that …
- … of the geological record; but this criticism, he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main …
- … his theory would have been ‘ utterly smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
- … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
- … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
- … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
- … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
- … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
- … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
- … ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. Hooker’s letter, one …
- … Hooker attended the fabled Saturday session of Section D. He told Darwin how ‘between 700 & 1000 …
- … ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
- … were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1860 …
- … visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). Tracing the …
- … different forms of flowers on plants of the same species (1877). Plants that behave like …
Natural Science and Femininity
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…
Matches: 14 hits
- … Britain? Letters Letter 109 - Wedgwood, J. to Darwin, …
- … pursuit of real, professional work on his return. Letter 158 - Darwin to Darwin, R. W., …
- … colour and “beauty” of tropical vegetation. Letter 542 - Darwin to Wedgwood, C. S., [27 …
- … meals, family time and walks into town with Emma. Letter 555 - Darwin to FitzRoy, R., …
- … published his findings both in Expression and in an 1877 article titled, ‘ A Biographical …
- … them in the north-facing borders of his garden. Letter 2864 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
- … and “never saw anything so beautiful”. Letter 4230 - Darwin to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [2 …
- … linked with his domestic family life. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 …
- … at least provide Darwin with aesthetic pleasure. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
- … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 4469 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin …
- … before expecting to dedicate his life to science. Letter 4472 - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin …
- … duty to the public to contribute more than this. Letter 6044 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H., …
- … and influence to help shape his sons’ fortunes. Letter 6046 - Weir, J. J. to Darwin, …
- … Letter 10821 - Graham C. C. to Darwin, [30 January 1877] Psychologist Christopher Graham …
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: 20 hits
- … work of preparing new Editions’, he complained again to Hooker on 18 August. Finally, by …
- … much more than insectivorous plants. As he confessed to Hooker on 12 December , ‘I have not felt …
- … the matter to his satisfaction. On 8 January , he told Hooker: ‘I will write a savage letter & …
- … during the affair by the loyalty of his close friends, Hooker and Thomas Henry Huxley. …
- … honoured George. You have indeed been a true friend.’ Hooker was hampered by his position as …
- … & if he speaks to me should let him feel it .’ Hooker also directed some of his anger …
- … to the Editor … Poor Murray shuddered again & again’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 16 January …
- … thirst for vengeance is now quite Satisfied’, he told Hooker on 17 January , ‘I feel now like a …
- … offered to pay the costs for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). …
- … & bless the day That ever you were born (letter from E. F. Lubbock, [after 2 …
- … that the originally red half has become wholly white’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [before 4 …
- … pp. 188–90). He drew attention to this discussion in a letter to George Rolleston, remarking on 2 …
- … Darwin wrote, ‘I beg ten thousand pardon & more’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [ c . February …
- … signed himself, ‘Your affect son … the proofmaniac’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, 1 and 2 May [1875 …
- … firm. Darwin was impressed by the device, remarking to Hooker on 13 October : ‘Horace has made a …
- … both critical and reverential. On 16 July he received a letter from an advocate of women’s …
- … were involved in the launch of Kosmos in April 1877. From Haeckel, Darwin received a copy of a …
- … her presentation copy of Insectivorous plants ( letter to D. F. Nevill, 15 July [1875] ). Such …
- … of my house within the short time I can talk to anyone’ ( letter to John Lubbock, 3 May [1875] ). …
- … and had agreed to see him at Down with Thiselton-Dyer ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 7 July 1875 …
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: 23 hits
- … He had begun a systematic study of plant movement in 1877, concentrating on the motion of leaves in …
- … is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation’, he wrote to Hooker on 25 March ; ‘this has …
- … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
- … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
- … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
- … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
- … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
- … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
- … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
- … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
- … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
- … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
- … on the object, but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). Darwin …
- … a monkey & a baby in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September [1878] ). More …
- … to play the part of a thieving wasp’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 21 June 1878 ). An …
- … where his work had been more controversial ( letter from J.-B. Dumas and Joseph Bertrand, 5 August …
- … the German Association of Naturalists in September 1877, Darwin’s outspoken supporter Ernst Haeckel …
- … and leaves Moses to take care of himself ’ ( letter from J. B. Innes, 1 December 1878 ). Darwin …
- … European crop (see Correspondence vol. 3, letter to J. S. Henslow, 28 October [1845] ). He …
- … the matter be presented to the duke of Richmond ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 28 [February 1878] ). …
- … he made a fool of himself at Belfast,’ Darwin wrote to Hooker on 3 or 4 March . ‘I have often …
- … oddest thing that ever happened to me’, Darwin wrote to Hooker on 14 December. Mindful of the lack …
- … That pecunious old couple of Worthing’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 December 1878 ). …
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: 26 hits
- … his publishers, he warned that it was ‘dry as dust’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 9 September 1879 ). …
- … turned out, alas, very dull & has disappointed me much’ ( letter to Francis Galton, 15 [June …
- … home again’, he fretted, just days before his departure ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [after 26 …
- … many blessings, was finding old age ‘a dismal time’ ( letter to Henry Johnson, 24 September 1879 ) …
- … Darwin had written: ‘The worst thing I find now is this d—n’d old age, which creeps slily upon one, …
- … itself, or gone some other way round?’ At least the last letter of 1879 contained a warmer note and …
- … office to complete Horace’s marriage settlement ( letter from W. M. Hacon, 31 December 1879 ). …
- … but they were ‘as nice and good as could be’ ( letter from Karl Beger, [ c. 12 February 1879] ) …
- … Virchow’s attempt to discredit evolutionary theory in 1877, assured him that his views were now …
- … on your life’s work, which is crowned with glory’ ( letter from Ernst Haeckel, 9 February 1879 ). …
- … to wish Darwin a ‘long and serene evening of life’. This letter crossed with one from Darwin, …
- … the statement ‘In the beginning was carbon’ ( letter from Hermann Müller, 14 February 1879 ). …
- … editor of the journal Kosmos , which had been founded in 1877 by Krause and others as a journal …
- … as the ‘organ of “uncultivated materialism”’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 2 June 1879 ]). …
- … admiration of his grandfather: ‘The more I read of Dr. D. the higher he rises in my estimation.’ …
- … and particularly the theory of natural selection in 1877) had previously told Krause, ‘He is a very …
- … it, leaving Darwin ‘more perplexed than ever about life of D r . D’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, …
- … which is his profession tho’ not a profitable one; also D r C[lark]’s opinion that he was so …
- … when the acorns failed to ripen, Darwin had to ask Joseph Hooker to come to his rescue by sending …
- … scarlet oak: ‘to be planted in my honour!’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 4 November [1879] ). While in …
- … of laws he had received from Cambridge University in 1877. Emma Darwin recorded that Darwin found …
- … knowledge—observation & experiment’ ( letter from J. F. Moulton, 10 December 1879 ). In reply …
- … image of the frog be published in Nature ( letter to J. N. Lockyer, 4 and 6 March [1879] ). …
- … and his family to the Riviera for the summer ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 23 July 1879 ). Allen, who …
- … prospects were precarious. Darwin contacted Joseph Hooker on 17 December to ask his opinion: ‘I …
- … been saved from a ‘mistake & mess’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 December [1879] ). The German …
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: 13 hits
- … of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 …
- … sweeping conclusions on insufficient grounds. Letter 3934 - Darwin to Scott, J., [21 …
- … how to make the material worthy of publication. Letter 4185 - Darwin to Scott, J., [25 …
- … indefatigable worker you are!”. Letter 7605 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [20 March …
- … memorial” in memory of the book. Letter 8140 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [3 …
- … how he made so many observations without aid. Letter 8146 - Darwin to Treat, M., [5 …
- … “in some well-known scientific journal”. Letter 8171 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L., [21 …
- … that Lucy is worth her weight in gold. Letter 9005b - Darwin to Treat, M., [12 …
- … flies until he had repeated the experiment. Letter 9580 - Darwin to Darwin, G. H. D., …
- … should not yet be submitted to the publisher. Letter 9613 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., …
- … and thinks that it ought to be published. Letter 10523 - Darwin to Treat, M., [1 June …
- … in the pursuit of her “admirable work”. Letter 11096 - Darwin to Romanes, G. J., [9 …
- … her manuscript to Nature for publication. Letter 13414 - Darwin to Harrison, L., …
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: 25 hits
- … had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
- … the phenomenon. A few days later, Darwin wrote to Joseph Hooker, ‘ Why are the leaves & fruit …
- … injure the leaves? if indeed this is at all the case ’. Hooker, who had also speculated on the …
- … on Mimosa albida from Kew Gardens, he explained to Hooker, ‘ I have never syringed (with tepid …
- … ‘Very curious results’ In May 1877, Darwin asked one of his most trusted …
- … whether they are coated with a waxy secretion ’. He told Hooker, ‘ I have been looking over my old …
- … , a plant that exhibited all three types of movement ( letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July …
- … night & we have made out a good deal ’, but confiding to Hooker, ‘ We have been working like …
- … movements of leaves ’. He confirmed this view to Hooker, ‘ From what Frank & I have seen, I …
- … he reported some progress in understanding movement, telling Hooker, ‘ I think we have proved …
- … was asked to send any spare seeds he might have. ‘ I sh d . like to see how the embryo breaks …
- … the woodblock using photography for scientific accuracy ( letter from J. D. Cooper, 13 December …
- … that the method was ‘ all that I can desire, but as I sh d like to give a very large number of …
- … lost colour, withered, and died within a couple of days ( letter from A. F. Batalin, 28 February …
- … how their observations could have been so much at odds ( letter to Hugo de Vries 13 February 1879 …
- … the botanist Gaetano Durando, to find plants and seeds ( letter to Francis Darwin, [4 February – 8 …
- … only the regulator & not cause of movement ’. In the same letter, Darwin discussed terminology, …
- … to replace Frank’s ‘Transversal-Heliotropismus’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 10 February [1880] ). …
- … ‘ I am very sorry that Sachs is so sceptical, for I w d . rather convert him than any other half …
- … do not when cauterised bend geotropically & why sh d we say this is owing to injury, when …
- … of his annual family holiday telling his close friend Hooker, ‘ I have been working pretty hard of …
- … ). Hooker offered to write to Egypt for the seeds (From J. D. Hooker 29 November 1879; DCP-LETT …
- … those of Gray, who had written an article on the subject in 1877 (A. Gray 1877e). Gray had reported …
- … without any nervous system! I think that such facts sh d . be kept in mind, when speculating on …
- … Eduard Koch had already agreed to publish it ( letter from J. V. Carus, 18 September 1880 ). The …
All Darwin's letters from 1873 go online for the anniversary of Origin
Summary
To celebrate the 158th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species on 24 November, the full transcripts and footnotes of over 500 letters from and to Charles Darwin in 1873 are now available online. Read about Darwin's life in 1873 through his…
Matches: 6 hits
- … than proving a true act of digestion in Drosera. ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 October [1873] ) …
- … I could give 2 scientific secretaries work to do ( Letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 ) …
- … and self fertilisation (1876), and Forms of flowers (1877). When he jokingly mentioned his …
- … have now been printed off, & most of them sold! ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
- … you, as we should to an honoured & much loved brother. ( Letter to T. H. Huxley, 23 …
- … their meaning; some love of the new and marvellous ( Letter to Francis Galton, 28 May 1873 …
Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms
Summary
‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…
Matches: 20 hits
- … my grandfather’s character is of much value to me’ ( letter to C. H. Tindal, 5 January 1880 ). …
- … have influenced the whole Kingdom, & even the world’ ( letter from J. L. Chester, 3 March 1880 …
- … delighted to find an ordinary mortal who could laugh’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin to Charles and …
- … much powder & shot’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from Ernst Krause, 7 June 1879 , and …
- … modified; but now I much regret that I did not do so’ ( letter to Samuel Butler, 3 January 1880 ). …
- … and ‘decided on laying the matter before the public’ ( letter from Samuel Butler, 21 January 1880 …
- … and uncertain about what to do. He drafted two versions of a letter to the Athen æum , sending …
- … in which he will have the last word’, she warned ( letter from H. E. Litchfield, [1 February 1880] …
- … who will fight to the end’, added her husband Richard ( letter from R. B. Litchfield, 1 February …
- … him & given him Darwinophobia? It is a horrid disease’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 February …
- … squashing the ‘mosquito inflated to an elephant’ ( letter from Ernst Krause, 9 December 1880 ). …
- … the genus given by Gray in an article and textbook (A. Gray 1877 and A. Gray 1879, pp. 20–1). ‘I …
- … and thus one looks to prevent its return’ ( letter from J.-H. Fabre, 18 February 1880 ). Darwin …
- … letting them out of their respective bags ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [6, 13, or 20] March 1881 ) …
- … received more attention than the baby!’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 17 December 1880 , and …
- … to the greatest biologist of our time’ ( letter from W. D. Roebuck to G. H. Darwin, 25 October 1880 …
- … In the previous year, he had consulted Joseph Dalton Hooker about the possibility of a Civil List …
- … employment’ ( Correspondence vol. 27, letter from J. D. Hooker, 18 December 1879 ). For some …
- … extensive work on geographical distribution. Darwin and Hooker both praised his most recent book on …
- … & am never happy except when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880] ). …
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…
Matches: 7 hits
- … & yet all the genera have 1/2 a dozen synonyms’ ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February 1849] …
- … and explicit in the work of contemporary naturalists. In a letter to his friend Joseph Hooker, he …
- … I believe, from trying to define the undefinable’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24 December [1856] ). …
- … different forms of flowers on plants of the same species (1877) What Darwin discovered was that …
- … whether sterility could be ‘selected’. In 1862, he told Hooker, ‘I am now strongly inclined to …
- … of hybrids might be produced by natural selection ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 1 March 1868 ). …
- … to ‘say no more but leave the problem as insoluble’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 ). …
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…
Matches: 9 hits
- … and proofreading Darwin’s second edition of Orchids (1877). By January of the following …
- … ( Dipsacus sylvestris )’ at the Royal Society on 1 March 1877 (F. Darwin 1877a). His address was …
- … and a plate of sixteen figures, was published in July 1877 in the Quarterly Journal of …
- … ‘ I can declare that I have hardly ever received [a letter] in my life which has given me more …
- … Darwin’s request, Cohn agreed to allow an excerpt of his letter to be published in Nature , …
- … the journal by the end of the month ( Nature , 23 August 1877, p. 339). Although, as Darwin …
- … to his father’s beloved Drosera rotundifolia in June 1877, finding sundews that had been ‘fed’ …
- … Grant. References Darwin, C. 1877. The Contractile Filaments of the …
- … teasel ( Dipsacus sylvestris ). (Abstract.) [Read 1 March 1877.] Proceedings of the Royal …
'An Appeal' against animal cruelty
Summary
The four-page pamphlet transcribed below and entitled 'An Appeal', was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 September 1863]). The pamphlet, which protested against the cruelty of steel vermin…
Matches: 12 hits
- … was composed jointly by Emma and Charles Darwin (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [29 …
- … of the pamphlet in August and September 1863 (see letter from G. B. Sowerby Jr to Emma Darwin, 22 …
- … 1863, pp. 821–2, under the title `Vermin and traps' ( Letter no. 4282). The wording of the …
- … and to 'a good many persons Squires Ladies & MPs' (see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D …
- … more success with the campaign than she expected (see the letter from Emma Darwin to William Erasmus …
- … involved no more cruelty than the possible alternatives (see letter from E. L. Darwin, 7 September …
- … a further public appeal against the use of steel traps in 1877 ( Spectator , 6 January 1877, p. 15 …
- … to the RSPCA in 1852 for working horses with sore necks (see letter from Emma Darwin to William …
- … threatened to report a similar case of cruelty in 1866 (see letter to [Local landowner], [1866], …
- … 44, 54–5, 78, and Correspondence vol. 2, letter to W. D. Fox, 28 August [1837]). Later he …
- … E. Darwin, 22 [September 1858], and this volume, letter to J. B. Innes, 1 September [1863]). …
- … been identified; however, see letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863]. Only two …
