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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: 12 hits
- … over an anonymous review that attacked the work of Darwin’s son George dominated the second half of …
- … been the naturalist and traveller Alexander von Humboldt’s 105th birthday, Darwin obliged with a …
- … The death of a Cambridge friend, Albert Way, caused Darwin’s cousin, William Darwin Fox, to …
- … led Darwin to the self-assessment, ‘as for one’s body growing old there is no help for it, & I …
- … The year started for Darwin with a week’s visit to London, staying at his brother Erasmus’s house. …
- … August 1873. Darwin had originally thought that Clark’s dietary treatment would ‘do wonders’, but as …
- … against this (Correspondence vol. 23, from J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1875] ), preferring to attack …
- … a week ( letter from E. E. Klein, 14 May 1874 ). John Burdon Sanderson sent the results of his …
- … He also did experiments with pepsin ( letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 25 April 1874) , and …
- … with his lecture at the Royal Institution ( letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 21 March 1874 ). …
- … the contraction of Dionaea leaves in Nature (Burdon Sanderson 1874). Hooker also gratefully …
- … by Michael Foster. He then studied under John Scott Burdon Sanderson at University College London, …
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
Matches: 14 hits
- … was sympathetic to the cause, but found some of Cobbe’s rhetoric inflammatory, and he strongly …
- … research on insectivorous plants. Indeed, some of Darwin’s plant experiments, such as applying toxic …
- … Such work had drawn him into close contact with England’s leading physiologists, John Scott Burdon …
- … because it failed to mention anaesthetics. Darwin’s indebtedness and allegiance to …
- … affection for animals and antipathy to cruelty. Darwin’s fondness for animals, especially dogs, is …
- … ‘an English gentleman would not himself give a moment’s unnecessary pain to any living creature, and …
- … Vivisection was a sensitive subject within Darwin’s family. In his letter of 14 January 1875 to …
- … the bill on vivisection, he consulted with Huxley and Burdon Sanderson, with legal experts Godfrey …
- … of Derby. The resulting document went through many stages. Burdon Sanderson first drew up a …
- … [4 April 1875] ). This was evidently passed back to Burdon Sanderson, who drafted a memorial, …
- … already been prepared for the House of Lords (see letter to J. S. Burdon Sanderson, [11 April 1875 …
- … The revised sketch and final bill are in DAR 139.17: 22–3. They are not reproduced here as the main …
- … of the Royal Commission on vivisection , Appendix III, p. 338) Huxley and Burdon Sanderson …
- … (letter from T. H. Huxley, 19 May 1875 , letter from J. S. Burdon Sanderson, 23 May [1875] ). …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 16 hits
- … and Cross and self fertilisation (1876). Darwin’s son Francis became increasingly involved in …
- … renouncing plans for a medical career to become his father’s scientific secretary. Darwin had always …
- … The subject was brought closer to home by Francis Galton’s work on inherited talent, which prompted …
- … efforts to alleviate the financial troubles of Anton Dohrn’s Zoological Station at Naples. …
- … properties analogous to those in Drosera . Darwin’s experiments on plant movement and digestion …
- … had co-authored. Darwin contacted two of the Handbook ‘s other contributors, Thomas Lauder …
- … an abstract of his preliminary results on Drosera to Burdon Sanderson, who had performed …
- … , and had specimens delivered to the Brown Institution. Burdon Sanderson used a galvanometer (a …
- … solution to Frankland for analysis. Following Frankland’s advice, he performed his own tests and …
- … enzyme. Cross- and self-fertilisation Darwin’s other main focus of botanical …
- … health, supported the decision on the basis of the family’s collective infirmity: “After all he is a …
- … of inheritance!” ( letter to F. S. B. F. de Chaumont, 3 February [1873] ). Some readers …
- … civilisation and good breeding ( letter from Henry Reeks, 3 March 1873 ). Robert Swinhoe …
- … some with his finger ( letter to Nature , [before 3 April 1873] ). Moggridge suggested the …
- … offend his father ( enclosure to letter from T. H. Huxley, 3 December 1873 ). In April, …
- … the passage of purgatory” ( letter from Andrew Clark, 3 September 1873 ). Revising …
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: 19 hits
- … Plants always held an important place in Darwin’s theorising about species, and botanical research …
- … to the subject of cross and self-fertilisation. On 3 October , he wrote with fresh enthusiasm to …
- … the controversy involved a slanderous attack upon Darwin’s son George, in an anonymous review in …
- … V). Darwin remained bitter and dissatisfied with Mivart’s attempts at conciliation, and spent weeks …
- … of London, and a secretary of the Linnean Society, Darwin’s friends had to find ways of coming to …
- … the publisher of the Quarterly Review , in which Mivart’s anonymous essay had appeared. ‘I told …
- … feel now like a pure forgiving Christian!’ Darwin’s ire was not fully spent, however, for he …
- … The vivisection issue was a delicate one within Darwin’s family, and he tried to balance his concern …
- … paper sent me by Miss Cobbe.’ Darwin found Cobbe’s memorial inflammatory and unfair in its …
- … on 12 May, one week after a rival bill based on Cobbe’s memorial had been read in the House of Lords …
- … other interested parties. Darwin was summoned to testify on 3 November. It caused him much anxiety, …
- … Emanuel Klein, a German histologist who worked with John Burdon Sanderson at the Brown Animal …
- … on vivisection , p. 183). Darwin learned of Klein’s testimony from Huxley on 30 October 1875 : …
- … medicine in London. Klein had assisted in some of Darwin’s botanical research and had visited Down …
- … Poisons, plants, and print-runs Darwin’s keen interest in the progress of physiology …
- … of protoplasm. He added the details of Brunton and Fayrer’s experiments to Insectivorous plants , …
- … I can say is that I am ready to commit suicide.’ Darwin’s despair over the revision process may have …
- … for printing an additional 250 ( letter to John Murray, 3 May 1875 ). In the event, the …
- … weekly publications of Natural History’, he explained on 3 June , ‘are not sufficiently …
Animals, ethics, and the progress of science
Summary
Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In Descent, he argued that some animals exhibited moral behaviour and had evolved mental powers analogous to conscience. He gave examples of cooperation, even…
Matches: 11 hits
- … Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical …
- … bear to put a live worm on a hook (‘Recollections’, pp. 358, 388). Darwin’s concern for animals …
- … hour of his life’ ( Descent 1: 40). Darwin’s closest encounter with vivisection came in …
- … theory to apply to plants. He added, however that Galton’s experiments were ‘extremely curious’, and …
- … to those performed on dogs and other animals. Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants drew him into …
- … represent?’ ( Illustrations of Vivisection , 1887, p. 3). These were not exceptional experiments …
- … letter to F. B. Cobbe, [14 January 1875] ). Darwin’s involvement in the vivisection …
- … to outside surveillance and interference. Vivisection’s critics included a number of eminent …
- … 4 January [1875] ) Darwin worked closely with Burdon Sanderson and Thomas Huxley to draft a …
- … defence. To bring more solidarity to the field, Darwin’s son Francis, and a number of his close …
- … its first meeting on 20 April 1882, the day after Darwin’s death. While Darwin was actively …
The "wicked book": Origin at 157
Summary
Origin is 157 years old. (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859. To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…
Matches: 7 hits
- … from the key players in the drama surrounding Origin’ s publication: Alfred Russel Wallace , …
- … and Joseph Hooker , the two men who arranged for Darwin’s and Wallace’s ideas to be made public …
- … less well-known scientific collaborators who became Darwin's correspondents, Mary Treat , an …
- … Henrietta , Francis , Leonard, and Horace. Francis’s fiancée, Amy Ruck, was co-opted as an …
- … on pigeons mixed in with Parish affairs. 3 pails of water thrown over me on rising …
- … Thiselton-Dyer George Cupples H. C. Watson J. J. Weir H. W. Bates …
- … G. Butler John Lubbock R. I. Lynch J. B. Burdon Sanderson T. V. Wollaston …
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: 17 hits
- … Down House measured by the ongoing tally of his and Emma’s backgammon games. ‘I have won, hurrah, …
- … Lodge with his wife, Amy, had settled in as his father’s botanical assistant, and their close …
- … concussion from a riding accident, and George Darwin’s ill-health grew worse, echoing Darwin’s own …
- … of the next generation of the family, with Francis and Amy’s child expected in September. Their joy …
- … to William on 11 September just hours after Amy’s death. For once, the labour of checking proofs …
- … dimorphic and trimorphic plants in new ways. New Year's resolutions Darwin began …
- … Elder and Company proposed reissuing two of Darwin’s three volumes of the geology of the …
- … not even to look at a single proof ’. Perhaps Carus’s meticulous correction of errors in the German …
- … for an hour every afternoon, Darwin finished his account on 3 August with his new research in mind: …
- … in an anonymous article, which impugned not only George’s but also Darwin’s respectability (see …
- … that Mivart still had the capacity to damage George’s reputation. ‘I care little about myself but Mr …
- … the still raw memory of this incident that underlay Darwin’s heartfelt thanks to Wallace for his …
- … ( Correspondence vol. 23). With the voting scheduled for 3 February, Darwin reassured his close …
- … Darwin hoped not only to remove any stain on Lankester’s scientific reputation, but also to save the …
- … founded in March 1876 by the London physiologist John Scott Burdon Sanderson to discuss how best to …
- … results in this year’s experiments’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [ c . 19 March 1876] ). A less …
- … that in less than a day he could type no more than ‘ 2 or 3 times as slowly as writing ’ (DAR 258: …
