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Darwin Correspondence Project
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To Richard Owen   [1849?]

Summary

CD proposes to call for tea if he is well enough on Thursday.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Richard Owen
Date:  [1849?]
Classmark:  Houghton Library, Harvard University (Autograph File, D)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1089

To Thomas Salt   27 July [1849]

Summary

Returns the enclosed from his brother [Erasmus Alvey Darwin]

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Thomas Salt
Date:  27 July [1849]
Classmark:  Rachel Salt (private collection); sold by Spink’s (dealers), July 2018
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1103F

To M. A. T. Whitby   12 August [1849]

Summary

Thanks MATW for the results of her experiments on the inheritance of caterpillar peculiarities and would be grateful for any further observations on differences in structure or habits between silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Mary Anne Theresa Whitby
Date:  12 Aug [1849]
Classmark:  New York Academy of Medicine (MS 15)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1194

To Hugh Edwin Strickland   29 January [1849]

Summary

Has altered and added to HES’s list [compiled for Bibliographia zoologiæ et geologiæ, edited by Louis Agassiz and enlarged by HES, (1848–54)].

On zoological nomenclature CD cites a case in which he believes more harm than good would be done by following the rule of priority. Thinks the rule of the first describer’s name being attached in perpetuity to a species has been the greatest curse to natural history. Every genus of cirripedes has a half-dozen names and not one careful description.

Sends a paper he once wrote [missing] on the subject [of zoological nomenclature].

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Date:  29 Jan [1849]
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1215

From H. E. Strickland   31 January 1849

Summary

Responds to CD’s two objections to the principles involved in the "Rules of zoological nomenclature": (1) that strict enforcement of the rule of priority would cause much inconvenience, and (2) attaching name of the first describer in perpetuity puts a premium on careless description by "species mongers".

Author:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  31 Jan 1849
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1216

To Smith, Elder & Company   [16 February 1849]

Summary

Asks for account on South America and sales of Coral reefs and Volcanic islands.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Smith, Elder & Co
Date:  [16 Feb 1849]
Classmark:  Edward Ford (private collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1217

To W. J. Hooker   [c. February 1849]

Summary

Thanks WJH for information on J. D. Hooker’s progress.

J. D. Hooker promised a copy of his Galapagos paper. Can WJH forward one to the Athenaeum?

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Jackson Hooker
Date:  [c. Feb 1849]
Classmark:  Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Directors’ Correspondence English letters A–J 1849, 27: 155)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1218

From J. D. Hooker   3 February 1849

Summary

Physical description of Sikkim mountains.

Travelling through Kinchin snows.

Transported boulders.

Author:  Joseph Dalton Hooker
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  3 Feb 1849
Classmark:  Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (India letters 1847–51: 131–5 JDH/1/10)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1219

From J. D. Hooker   3 February 1849

Summary

Continues prior letter of this date. Has received CD’s [1202]. Thanks CD for saving his correspondence.

Sent "a yarn about species" in October mail.

Some "puerile" JDH letters printed in Athenæum.

Requests CD extract anything valuable from his letters to CD and Lyell for Athenæum.

CD’s complemental males in barnacles wonderful.

Warns CD to drop his battle about perpetuity of names in species descriptions.

Author:  Joseph Dalton Hooker
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  3 Feb 1849
Classmark:  Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (India letters 1847–51: 136–7 JDH/1/10)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1220

To H. E. Strickland   [4 February 1849]

Summary

HES’s arguments are of great weight, but CD cannot yet bring himself to reject well-known names for obscure ones. Sends four cases that he thinks will stagger HES. Cites his problems in classifying cirripedes. CD cannot bear to give new names, yet may do wrong to attach old ones. Not one species is correctly defined. The harm done by "species mongers".

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Date:  [4 Feb 1849]
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1221

To W. D. Fox   6 February [1849]

Summary

His memory of his recently deceased father is a treasure to him.

Thanks WDF for information on the water-cure. Dislikes the thought of it.

Reports results of his experiments with tied-up fruit-trees.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  William Darwin Fox
Date:  6 Feb [1849]
Classmark:  Christ’s College Library, Cambridge (MS 53 Fox 71)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1222

From Thomas Salt to E. A. Darwin   8 February 1849

Summary

Discusses the division of R. W. Darwin’s estate.

Author:  Thomas Salt
Addressee:  Erasmus Alvey Darwin
Date:  8 Feb 1849
Classmark:  Shropshire Archives (SA D3651/B/47/1/11)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1222F

From H. E. Strickland   8 February 1849

Summary

The priority rule has only diverted vanity to a rush to be first. Has no objection to CD’s suggestion that good books be quoted in preference to first descriptions if there is a chance by this means of developing this silly vanity into ambition to advance knowledge. Still, this must not affect the rule of priority. Responds to CD’s four cases.

Author:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  8 Feb 1849
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1223

To Lovell Augustus Reeve   [before 14 March 1849]

Summary

Happy to support LAR’s application to the Royal Society.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Lovell Augustus Reeve
Date:  [before 14 Mar 1849]
Classmark:  Melvill 1900: 352
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1223F

To Johannes Peter Müller   10 February [1849]

Summary

Requests JPM’s assistance by lending or giving him cirripede specimens. The anatomy of cirripedes has been most imperfectly done, and their classification is a perfect chaos.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Johannes Peter (Johannes) Müller
Date:  10 Feb [1849]
Classmark:  Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 216–217 )
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1224

To H. E. Strickland   10 February [1849]

Summary

HES’s letter will fructify to some extent: CD will try to be more faithful to rigid virtue and priority. Would not adopt his own notion in cirripede book without prior approval by others. Will not append "Darwin" to any of his species. Feels sure many others share his aversion.

Asks HES’s opinion on retention of generic name Conchoderma.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Date:  10 Feb [1849]
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1225

From H. E. Strickland   15 February 1849

Summary

Clarifies the notion and use of type-species and applies it to CD’s problem with Conchoderma.

Author:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Addressee:  Charles Robert Darwin
Date:  15 Feb 1849
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1226

To H. E. Strickland   [19 February 1849]

Summary

Thanks HES for solving his problem. Has some difficulty with HES’s type-species. In arranging genera in a natural order it is often impossible to say which species should be considered the type.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Hugh Edwin Strickland
Date:  [19 Feb 1849]
Classmark:  Museum of Zoology Archives, University of Cambridge (Strickland Papers)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1227

To Richard Owen   [24 February 1849]

Summary

Thanks RO for his note on Conchoderma hunteri [see Living Cirripedia 1: 153].

Has been very unwell; has lost four-fifths of his time. Will go to Malvern to try the water-cure for his vomiting, which regular doctors cannot cure.

Has done some pretty homological work with cirripedes.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  Richard Owen
Date:  [24 Feb 1849]
Classmark:  Archives of the New York Botanical Garden (Charles Finney Cox Collection)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1228

To J. S. Bowerbank   24 February [1849]

Summary

Thanks him for cirripede specimens.

Author:  Charles Robert Darwin
Addressee:  James Scott Bowerbank
Date:  24 Feb [1849]
Classmark:  Formerly Leeds City Libraries; for sale at Bonhams (dealers) (13 March 2002)
Letter no:  DCP-LETT-1229
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Darwin's health

Summary

On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … On 28 March 1849, ten years before  Origin  was published, Darwin wrote to his good …
  • … Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to Hooker’s letter which he put down to his exceptionally …
  • … I was rapidly going the way of all flesh.  See the letter At various periods in his …
  • … headaches, fatigue, trembling, faintness, and dizziness. In 1849, Darwin’s symptoms became so severe …
  • … months while he took Dr Gully’s water cure. In Darwin’s letter to Hooker, he described Dr Gully’s …
  • … certain that the Water Cure is no quackery.—  See the letter After returning from …
  • … in the years around 1848, 1852, 1859, and 1863. In a letter to Hooker in April of 1861, for example, …
  • … as my retching is apt to be extremely loud.—  See the letter Besides experimenting …
  • … the vomiting wonderfully & I am gaining vigour .’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864] ) …
  • … these grounds (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 2, letter to J. S. Henslow, 14 October …
  • … first mentioned attacks of ‘periodical vomiting’ in a letter to W. D. Fox, [7 June 1840] ( …
  • … he was sick almost daily (see Correspondence vol. 12, letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [6 …
  • … before Darwin’s decision to consult John Chapman.  In a letter to J. D. Hooker, [20-] 22 February …
  • … after eating, and that he seldom threw up food.  In his letter to Chapman of 16 May [1865] , …
  • … and care see, for example, Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Emma Darwin, [27-8 May 1848] . …
  • … had suffered from gout (see Correspondence vol. 1, letter to W. D. Fox, [25-9 January 1829] , …
  • … see King-Hele 1999, pp. 161-2). Erasmus also wrote a letter to Darwin’s father, in which he claimed …
  • … are discussed in Colp 1977, pp. 31-2, 47, 98. In his letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 March [1863] ( …
  • … Correspondence vol. 4, letter to W. D. Fox, 24 [March 1849] , and Correspondence vol. 7, …
  • … where he and his family spent three months in March 1849 (see Correspondence vol. 4). He also …
  • … vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October 1849 , and Colp 1977, pp. 43-6). He underwent …

Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles

Summary

Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…

Matches: 20 hits

  • … hurrah for my species-work’ ( Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … of an Admiralty  Manual of scientific enquiry  (1849) designed to guide the scientific work of …
  • … William Herschel, to write the chapter on geology ( letter to J. F. W. Herschel, 4 February [1848] …
  • … by Darwin on the use of microscopes on board ship ( see letter to Richard Owen, [26 March 1848] ). …
  • … to Milne directly, he sent a long rejoinder in the form of a letter for publication in the Scotsman. …
  • … asked for it to be destroyed. Only the draft of Darwin’s letter remains ( letter to the  Scotsman …
  • … that his original fieldwork was ‘time thrown away’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 8 [September 1847] ) …
  • … that it would be a ‘thorn in the side of É de B.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 3 January 1850 ). …
  • … marine invertebrates himself (see Correspondence vol. 2, letter to Leonard Jenyns, 10 April [1837]) …
  • … opinion that such a monograph was a ‘desideratum’ ( letter to J. L. R. Agassiz, 22 October 1848 ), …
  • … abortive stamens or pistils ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter from J. S. Henslow, 21 November …
  • … care what you say, my species theory is all gospel.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 May 1848 ). …
  • … for the Advancement of Science in Birmingham in September 1849. At Birmingham, Darwin made …
  • … sacrifice the rule of priority for the sake of expedience ( letter to H. E. Strickland, [4 February …
  • … it as ‘the greatest curse to natural History’ ( letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849] ). …
  • … Museum of Zoology, has been transcribed with Darwin’s letter to H. E. Strickland, 29 January [1849
  • … 1847 and during the last half of 1848 and the beginning of 1849. When his father Robert Waring died …
  • … to Down in June, is the subject of several letters in 1849. Darwin was convinced that it was a …
  • … House MS) that he kept for the next five years. In December 1849, for example, he had 25 days that …
  • … personal wealth considerable. In the year between September 1849 and September 1850, Darwin’s …

1.3 Thomas Herbert Maguire, lithograph

Summary

< Back to Introduction This striking portrait of Darwin, dating from 1849, belonged to a series of about sixty lithographic portraits of naturalists and other scientists drawn by Thomas Herbert Maguire. They were successively commissioned over a…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … This striking portrait of Darwin, dating from 1849, belonged to a series of about sixty lithographic …
  • … and Kirby. According to a report in the Athenaeum in 1849 , the original intention was simply …
  • … and dated in the image, bottom right, ‘T.H. Maguire, 1849’. 
 date of creation 1849 
 …
  • … ‘Our weekly gossip’, Athenaeum , no. 1141 (8 Sept. 1849), pp. 913–914. ‘Review. Portraits of …
  • … Secretary’, Gardeners’ Chronicle , 42 (20 October 1849), pp. 662–663. Letters from Darwin to …
  • … Electrical Engineers, 1991–2012), vol. 4, pp. 305–306, letter 2433. Report on ‘British Association …

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: 29 hits

  • … Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August …
  • … silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to …
  • … observations of cats’ instinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • … to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to …
  • … be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to …
  • … Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L …
  • … Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • … expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • … is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • … of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • … briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • … expression of emotion in dogs with Emma Darwin. Letter 8676 - Treat, M. to Darwin, …
  • … birds, insects or plants on Darwin’s behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to …
  • … of an angry pig and her niece’s ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • … that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28 …
  • … on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story …
  • … without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to …
  • … and her father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin …
  • … specimens and bird observations from Calcutta. Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 …
  • … “enthusiasm and indomitable patience”. Letter 4242 - Hildebrand, F. H. G. to Darwin …
  • … contained in “a little treatise”. Letter 4436 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [26-27 …
  • … he has moved one or two of them into his bedroom. Letter 5602 - Sutton, S. to …
  • … expression of emotion in chimpanzees and orangs. Letter 5705 - Haast, J. F. J. von …
  • … to show in his museum in Canterbury, New Zealand. Letter 6453 - Langton, E. to …
  • … to be attracted to dark spots on the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. …
  • … the black letters in a marble tablet”. Letter 6815 - Scott, J. to Darwin, [2 July …
  • … Fieldwork Women: Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June …
  • … on the shores of mountain lakes in Pennsylvania. Letter 3681  - Wedgwood, M. S. to …
  • Letter 1219  - Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, [3 February 1849] Hooker passes on news of …

Scientific Practice

Summary

Specialism|Experiment|Microscopes|Collecting|Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of scientific communication, rather than as integral to knowledge making. This section shows how correspondence could help to shape the practice of science, from…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … | Microscopes | Collecting | Theory Letter writing is often seen as a part of …
  • … with detailed correspondence about barnacles. Letter 1514 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. …
  • … of one idea. – cirripedes morning & night.” Letter 1480 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, …
  • … on embryological stages than Huxley thinks. Letter 1592 — Darwin, C. R. to Huxley, T. H …
  • … and difficulties of botanical experimentation. Letter 4895 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J …
  • … on Anelasma which he thinks seems probable. Letter 5173 — Müller, J. F. T. to …
  • … and on some plants which seem to be dichogamous. Letter 5429 — Müller, J. F. T. to …
  • … and crossed with pollen of other species. Letter 5480 — Müller, J. F. T. to Darwin, C. …
  • … Claus, Die freilebenden Copepoden [1863]. Letter 5551 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, J. …
  • … on the use and importance of the microscope. Letter 207 — Darwin, C. R. to Fox, W. D., …
  • … with a microscope ranks second only to geology. Letter 1018 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, …
  • … “take advantage of your wicked offer of assistance”. The letter is full of observations on barnacles …
  • … to J. F. W. Herschel, ed., Manual of scientific enquiry (1849)]. Letter 1167 — …
  • … finds this microscope “wonderfully superior”. Letter 1174 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … specimens and information for his barnacle book. Letter 1140 — Darwin, C. R. to Ross, J …
  • … to the Arctic in search of Sir John Franklin. Letter 1262 — Darwin, C. R. to Hancock, …
  • … discusses Lithotrya and its burrowing habits. Letter 1495 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … at his collection to check on his suspicions. Letter 1370 — Darwin, C. R. to Covington, …
  • … only one specimen is known to exist in the world. Letter 1251 — Darwin, C. R. to Gould, …
  • … between theory and practice in natural history. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, …
  • … first describer’s name to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., …
  • … perpetuity of names in species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …

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: 6 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] ). …
  • … a selected quality to keep incipient species distinct’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 [December 1862] …
  • … 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 ). …

Darwin’s reading notebooks

Summary

In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … Life of Wilkie [Cunningham 1843] & Chantry [G. Jones 1849]. Grote’s History of Greece …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … Universelle ou traité des Cepages Comte Odart 1849” [Odart 1849] read  very good . Rivers …
  • … Nat. Hist. of Sutherlanshire, Murray [C. W. G. Saint-John 1849] (read) Knox. Ornithological …
  • … on Pop. praised by Daily News. by M r  Hicks [Hickson 1849] Published separately Taylor & …
  • … India [Sleeman 1844] L d  Cloncurry Memm [Lawless 1849] Lady Lyell Sir J Heads …
  • … 1828–40] Campbell’s Chief Justices [J. Campbell 1849–57] Tocquevilles Democracy …
  • … [J. Campbell 1845–7] Lives of the Lindsays [Lindsay 1849] D r  Harvey’s Sea Side …
  • … Aspects of Nature. Humboldt [A. von Humboldt 1849]. Liebigs Lectures on Chemistry [Liebig …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … to William Jackson Hooker. See  Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …

Scientific Networks

Summary

Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important …
  • … in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of …
  • … botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker Letter 714 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • … and he is curious about Hooker’s thoughts. Letter 729 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • … to Hooker “it is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • … wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … and asks him to append the ranges of the species. Letter 1685 — Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. …
  • … and relationships of alpine flora in the USA. Letter 2125 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • … and their approach to information exchange. Letter 1202 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D …
  • … first describer’s name to specific name. Letter 1220 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., …
  • … perpetuity of names in species descriptions. Letter 1260 — Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • … ends with a discussion of lamination of gneiss. Letter 1319 — Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, …
  • … up his doubts about Darwin’s doctrines. In his second letter he talks about his visit with Falconer. …
  • … was on the Beagle voyage and afterwards. Letter 152 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. …
  • … is Henslow’s “bounden duty to lecture me”. Letter 196 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, C. R. …
  • … sends home a copy of his notes on the specimens. Letter 249 — Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, …
  • … sends news of Cambridge and mutual friends. Letter 251 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S …
  • … illness and specimens are sent to Henslow. Letter 272 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, J. S. …
  • … collection and plans to cross the Cordilleras. Letter 1189 — Darwin, C. R. to Henslow, …
  • … Hermann Müller. Darwin and Lubbock Letter 1585 — Darwin, C. R. to Lubbock, John, …
  • … and it has reawakened his passion for entomology. Letter 1720 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … 147 (1857): 79–100]. Darwin and Müller Letter 5457 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, …
  • … of the floral anatomy of Lopezia miniata . Letter 5471 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. …

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: 6 hits

  • … Darwin began the ice treatment on 20 May 1865. In his letter to Chapman of 7 June 1865, he reported …
  • … week of July, he had evidently given up the treatment (see letter from Charles and Emma Darwin to J. …
  • … been diagnosed as ‘suppressed gout’ by Henry Holland in 1849 ( Correspondence vol. 4, letter to W …
  • … by William Brinton, William Jenner, and George Busk (see letter to J. D. Hooker, [7 January 1865], …
  • … 11, Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, 8 December [1863]). In his letter to J. D. Hooker, 10 [November 1863] …
  • … with dietary restrictions (see Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864], …

What is an experiment?

Summary

Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … ‘all kinds of facts’ across a wide range of fields ( letter to W. D. Fox [25 January 1841] ). He …
  • … specimens for his own use. A portrait of Darwin in 1849 shows him with a specimen bag over …
  • … to travellers that was issued by the Navy (Herschel ed. 1849). He also treated many of his …
  • … men, with a curb on make far the best observers’ ( letter to C. H. L. Woodd , 4 March 1850 ). He …
  • … speculation there is no good & original observation’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 December …
  • … of an engineer on his early experiments with Drosera ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …
  • … ‘I have become very fond of little experiments’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] ; …
  • … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …
  • … at Science … & am never happy except when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880 …

Barnacles

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Darwin and barnacles Darwin’s interest in Cirripedia, a class of marine arthropods, was first piqued by the discovery of an odd burrowing barnacle, which he later named “Mr. Arthrobalanus," while he was…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … York: Grove Press. (p.1 - 83) Letters Letter Packet: Darwin's Barnacles …
  • … to London to have Mr. Arthrobalanus illustrated. Letter 1022 —Darwin to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … the unusual anatomy of Mr. Arthrobalanus. Letter 1140 —Darwin to J. C. Ross, 31 Dec 1847 …
  • … in search of the lost explorer John Franklin. Letter 1253 —Darwin to Albany Hancock, [21 …

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

  • … widened her social network and after her father's death in 1849 she travelled to Switzerland …
  • … visitors (23 March 1873; Emma described his visit in a letter to Fanny Allen, [26 March 1873], DAR …
  • … it too hot and left before the manifestations started ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 January [1874] …
  • … (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242) and Charles Darwin’s letter to Francis Darwin, [1 May 1876] ). …

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: 20 hits

  • … end of 1845, Darwin was not happy with Colburn’s terms ( Letter 856 ). Instead he asked his friend …
  • … John Murray, to open negotiations with his own publisher ( Letter 824 ). Lyell’s talk with Murray …
  • … have transacted the business with me’ (27 August [1845] Letter 908 ). Thus began the business …
  • … copies some pages in Darwin’s chapter were transposed ( Letter 1244 ). Darwin was anxious lest an …
  • …  Clowes & make the poor workman some present’ (12 June [1849] Letter 1245 ). Darwin’s …
  • … his ‘big species book’; on 18 June 1858, he received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace with the …
  • … asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John Murray ( Letter 2437 ), who, without even reading …
  • … not repent of having undertaken it’ (15 October [1859] Letter 2506 ). Murray decided on a retail …
  • … proud at the appearance of my child’ ([3 November 1859] Letter 2514 ). In the event, all Murray’s …
  • … – and a second edition was immediately called for ( Letter 2549 ). In the end Murray paid Darwin …
  • … (Variation ), but work progressed slowly ( Letter 3078 ); meanwhile in 1862 Murray published  On …
  • … Murray only offered Darwin half profits for this title ( Letter 3261 ); it was never a best-seller …
  • … ‘I fear it can never pay’ (3 January [1867] Letter 5346 ). In the end Murray decided to print …
  • … to Brazil, the beginning of a life-long correspondence ( Letter 4881 ). Subsequently Darwin …
  • … the risk himself. Murray suggested printing 750 copies ( Letter 6597 ), but Darwin decided on 1000 …
  • … fail, I think, to be much read’ (28 September [1870] Letter 7329 ). Murray decided to print 2500 …
  • … hope to Heaven book will sell well’ (12 January [1871] Letter 7438 ). A second printing was …
  • … America, of St George Mivart‘s Genesis of species  ( Letter 7907 ) ;  this was Darwin’s …
  • … By November of that year, fourteen copies had been sold ( Letter 8044 ). Meanwhile, Darwin was …
  • … Darwin chose to print the photographic illustrations ( Letter 7773 ), proved to be expensive ( …

'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: 16 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 …
  • … s. 6 d. for distributing the 'cruelty pamphlet', and letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. …
  • … involved no more cruelty than the possible alternatives (see letter from E. L. Darwin, 7 September …
  • … 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], …
  • … , pp. 44, 54–5, 78, and Correspondence vol. 2, letter to W. D. Fox, 28 August [1837]). Later he …
  • … Autobiography , pp. 78–9, Correspondence vol. 7, letter to W. E. Darwin, 22 [September 1858], …
  • … campaigning, legislation was passed in 1822, 1835, and 1849 (see nn. 1 and 5, below) to prevent …
  • … Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2 ( Letter no. 4282). The woodcut was arranged …
  • … is to William Howitt; the quotation is taken from Howitt"s letter to the Morning Star , 8 …
  • … Act for the more effectual prevention of cruelty to animals, 1849 ( Statutes, public and general , …
  • … Gardeners’ Chronicle , 29 August 1863, pp. 821–2 ( Letter no. 4282). 7 Edward Strong …

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: 16 hits

  • … his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention …
  • … 11   My dear Hooker… What a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my …
  • … 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 …
  • … a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received …
  • … might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing …
  • … 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. …
  • … full relief from all anxiety. Darwin shows Gray’s letter to Hooker. DARWIN:  …
  • … back. JANE GRAY:   189   [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868.] Mr Darwin …
  • … DARWIN:   192   My dear Gray. When I look over your letter[s] … and see all the things you …
  • … me, and yet was most anxious till two days ago, when I got a letter from him in excellent spirits. …
  • … MAY 1848 5  C DARWIN TO JD HOOKER 12 OCTOBER 1849 6  C DARWIN TO R …
  • … TO GRAY AT THIS TIME 189 JANE LORING GRAY, LETTER TO HER SISTER, 1868 or 1869 …

Darwin's illness

Summary

Was Darwin an invalid? In many photographs he looks wearied by age, wrapped in a great coat to protect him from cold. In a letter to his cousin William Fox, he wrote: "Long and continued ill health has much changed me, & I very often think with…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … age, wrapped in a great coat to protect him from cold. In a letter to his cousin William Fox, he …
  • … clientele. He wrote from Malvern to his friend Hooker in 1849. " At present, I am …

Fritz Müller

Summary

Fritz Müller, a German who spent most of his life in political exile in Brazil, described Darwin as his second father, and Darwin's son, Francis, wrote that, although they never met 'the correspondence with Müller, which continued to the close of…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … he had the strongest regard. Fritz Müller, in a letter to Ernst Krause written shortly …
  • … Hermann and August, maintained close relations with him. In 1849, he took a job as a private tutor; …
  • … a complete stranger, Darwin’s tone in this first letter was already collegial; he was clearly …

Living and fossil cirripedia

Summary

Darwin published four volumes on barnacles, the crustacean sub-class Cirripedia, between 1851 and 1854, two on living species and two on fossil species. Written for a specialist audience, they are among the most challenging and least read of Darwin’s works…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … year on cirripede anatomy, Darwin wrote a rather reflective letter to his former professor and …
  • … sense within the framework of his species theory. From early 1849, Darwin worked on both fossil and …
  • … Association for the Advancement of Science in September 1849, where he met the Danish geologist …
  • … his conclusions about larval-adult homologies in a letter to Dana in December 1853 . …

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…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … F1660.] —Remarks on the preceding paper, in a letter from Charles Darwin, Esq., to Mr. …
  • … , edited by John F. W. Herschel. London: John Murray. 1849.  [ Shorter publications , pp.  217-35. …

Darwin and Design

Summary

At the beginning of the nineteenth century in Britain, religion and the sciences were generally thought to be in harmony. The study of God’s word in the Bible, and of his works in nature, were considered to be part of the same truth. One version of this…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … the lacunas which he himself had made.  See the letter Kingsley was able to …
  • … and critics alike, he sketched Darwin as a bishop in a letter of 1868, giving audience to a humble …
  • … Hugh Miller,  Footprints of the creator  (1849). Richard Owen,  On the archetype and …