To A. S. Wilson 6 March 1878
Summary
Thanks for essays by ASW ["Experiments with turnip seeds", Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinburgh 13 (1876–9): 25–39, and a short notice, "Experiments in singling turnips"] and Aegilops seed.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Alexander Stephen Wilson |
Date: | 6 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 148: 362 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11402 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Bibliography Wilson, Alexander Stephen. 1877. Experiments with turnip …
- … seeds. [Read 8 February 1877. ] Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh 13 ( …
- … Experiments with turnip seeds’ ( Wilson 1877 ) in the Darwin Pamphlet Collection–CUL is …
- … with a short printed notice, ‘Experiments in singling turnips’, dated 20 December 1877. …
- … Wilson 1877 is cited in Movement of plants , pp. 230, 298. CD had requested seed of …
To S. B. J. Skertchly 2 March 1878
Summary
Thanks for letter. Comments on SBJS’s research on Palaeolithic flint tools.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Sydney Barber Josiah Skertchly |
Date: | 2 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 147: 480 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11394 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … its relation to the antiquity of man ( Geikie 1877 , pp. 536–46). See letter from S. B. J. …
- … University Press. 1985–. Geikie, James. 1877. The great ice age and its relation to the …
- … Co. Skertchly, Sydney Barber Josiah. 1877. Memoirs of the geological survey. England and …
- … Survey of England and Wales ( Skertchly 1877 ). See Correspondence vol. 24, letter from …
To G. J. Romanes 7 March 1878
Summary
CD’s gardener says not to sow onion seeds until middle of March. Should he risk sowing them at once?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | George John Romanes |
Date: | 7 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.531) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11405 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Romanes, 29 September 1875 ). In December 1877, CD agreed to have some onions supplied by …
- … letter from G. J. Romanes, 2 December 1877 , and letter from Charles and Francis Darwin to …
- … G. J. Romanes, 5 December 1877 ). CD probably refers to Romanes’s article ‘The beginning …
- … to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 December 1877] ); however, this did not appear until 1881 ( G. …
From Grant Allen 13 March [1878]
Summary
Sends MS of his paper, "On the coloration of flowers and fruits", filling a gap in CD’s theory relating to these structures, and asks for CD’s comments.
Plans a book on colour sense.
Author: | Charles Grant Blairfindie (Grant) Allen |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 13 Mar [1878] |
Classmark: | DAR 159: 41 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11420 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Bibliography Allen, Grant. 1877. Physiological aesthetics . London: Henry S. King & Co. …
- … The year is established by the reference to G. Allen 1877 (see n. 2, below). …
- … CD had received a copy of G. Allen 1877 through George John Romanes (see Correspondence …
- … vol. 25, letter to G. J. Romanes, 23 May 1877 ). The manuscript has not been found; CD …
From Alfred Moschkau 26 March 1878
Summary
Describes hereditary defect in ear muscle.
Discusses influence of wet nurse on infant.
Describes talking starlings.
Author: | Otto Carl Alfred (Alfred) Moschkau |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 26 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 252 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11446 |
Matches: 6 hits
- … at University of Cambridge on 17 November 1877 ( LL 3: 222). In an address to the German …
- … proven, especially with regard to the origins of life (see Virchow 1877 , and Nature , …
- … 22 November 1877, pp. …
- … John Murray. 1868. Virchow, Rudolf. 1877. Die Freiheit der Wissenschaft im modernen Staat: …
- … und Aerzte zu München am 22. September 1877. 2d edition. Berlin: Wiegandt, Hempel & Parey. …
- … 73–4, 29 November 1877, pp. 93–4). For more on the controversy over Virchow’s address, see …
To Wallis Nash 27 March 1878
Summary
Pleased that WN wishes to dedicate his book [Oregon: there and back (1878)] to him.
WN’s move from Down irreparable loss to the village.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Wallis Nash |
Date: | 27 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | Patricia Nash (private collection) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11450A |
From Grant Allen 19 March [1878]
Summary
Thanks for comments on paper and references to related works. Clarifies points on colour distinction between energy-absorbing (green) and energy-expending (bright-hued) portions of plants and on the influence of flower colour in modifying the insect organism.
Author: | Charles Grant Blairfindie (Grant) Allen |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 19 Mar [1878] |
Classmark: | DAR 159: 42 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11432 |
To J. D. Hooker 25 March [1878]
Summary
CD and Frank think they have proved that function of plant sleep is to protect leaves from injury by chilling radiation. Requests plants for experiment to determine whether underside of leaf is hardier than upper.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Date: | 25 Mar [1878] |
Classmark: | DAR 95: 469–70 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11443 |
From James Torbitt 17 March 1878
Summary
Life history of potato varieties. Changes in fruit, flower, and seed production with increasing age of a variety.
Author: | James Torbitt |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 17 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 178: 141 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11430 |
To W. T. Thiselton-Dyer 14 March 1878
Summary
CD gives his opinion on how the physiological laboratory at Kew should be equipped. It would be a pity if the laboratory were not supplied with as many good instruments as their funds could provide.
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | William Turner Thiselton-Dyer |
Date: | 14 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 144: 436 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11425 |
To Sara Darwin [1 March 1878]
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Sara Sedgwick; Sara Darwin |
Date: | [1 Mar 1878] |
Classmark: | DAR 210.6: 150 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11392 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … William Erasmus Darwin were married on 29 November 1877 ( Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)). …
From John Michels 2 March 1878
Summary
Describes a post-mortem dissection of a chimpanzee’s brain. The several doctors who observed it were struck by its resemblance to the human brain.
Author: | John Michels |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 177 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11393 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 25, letter from John Michels, 9 December 1877 and n. 3). CD’s letter to Michels has not …
From E. J. A. Bristow to H. E. Litchfield 11 March 1878
Summary
Reports on the standing of James Torbitt: "the opinion of the Public is that he is rich and highly respectable".
Author: | Edward Jones Agnew Bristow |
Addressee: | Henrietta Emma Darwin; Henrietta Emma Litchfield |
Date: | 11 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 160: 304 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11414 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … stores, at eleven locations in Belfast ( Belfast and province of Ulster directory 1877). …
From Raphael Meldola 22 March 1878
Summary
Encloses proof of the Entomological Society’s Proceedings for February to show the use he has made of Fritz Müller’s letter [see 11319].
Author: | Raphael Meldola |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 22 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 171: 126 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11438 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter from Fritz Müller, [27 November 1877] . Meldola had asked for CD’s permission to …
To Fritz Müller 27 March 1878
Summary
Thanks FM for letter of 22 Feb [not found] on Lepidoptera. Will send it to Entomological Society to be read. FM’s earlier letters produced best discussions of the season.
Thanks for seeds of Viola.
He and Francis [Darwin] are at work on biology of seedling plants and wish to observe how the flowers penetrate the earth.
The Pontederia did not germinate, probably pressed too much [in post].
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
Date: | 27 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 45) |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11448 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … from Fritz Müller, [27 November 1877] ( Correspondence vol. 25) to the Entomological …
From J. I. Rogers to Francis Darwin 25 March 1878
Summary
Suggests movements of sensitive plants may protect against insects.
Author: | John Innes Rogers |
Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
Date: | 25 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 176: 196 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11445 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July 1877] ); however, in Movement in plants , p. 127, …
From J. D. Hooker 2 March 1878
Summary
Supports Torbitt. Keenly aware of danger of growing crops from a single variety. Torbitt’s paper to Belfast BAAS meeting ["On the potato-disease", Rep. BAAS 44 (1874): 134] was sat upon.
Author: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 2 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 104: 103–4 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11391 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 1876 (London: HMSO), and Nature , 26 July 1877, p. 246. William Turner Thiselton-Dyer . …
To T. H. Farrer 26 March [1878]
Summary
James Caird does not think Torbitt’s success justifies application to Government. Torbitt has four acres planted with seedlings. Has sent back CD’s £100. Shall CD insist that he keep it?
Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Addressee: | Thomas Henry Farrer, 1st baronet and 1st Baron Farrer |
Date: | 26 Mar [1878] |
Classmark: | DAR 144: 95 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11447 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … 5000 new varieties from the seed of 1877; & will cross fertilise some of their flowers …
From James Torbitt 15 March 1878
Summary
Potato crossing experiments. Encloses printed copies of letters from people who have grown his potato seed.
Author: | James Torbitt |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 15 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 178: 140 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11426 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … P ettigo , | F ermanagh , 26 th February , 1877. D ear S ir , I now send you some more …
From James Torbitt 14 March 1878
Summary
Talk of a subscription to help JT’s experiments. Progress of experiment; loss of fungus-resistance in varieties as they age.
Author: | James Torbitt |
Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
Date: | 14 Mar 1878 |
Classmark: | DAR 178: 139 |
Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11424 |
Matches: 1 hit
- … kingdoms. In the Spring of 1876 and of 1877 I sent seed to each member of the Legislature, …
letter | (20) |
Darwin, C. R. | (9) |
Torbitt, James | (3) |
Allen, Grant | (2) |
Bristow, E. J. A. | (1) |
Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (9) |
Darwin, Francis | (1) |
Darwin, H. E. | (1) |
Darwin, Sara | (1) |
Farrer, T. H. | (1) |
Darwin, C. R. | (18) |
Torbitt, James | (3) |
Allen, Grant | (2) |
Hooker, J. D. | (2) |
Bristow, E. J. A. | (1) |
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: 28 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. …
- … of a very heavy shower’, William wrote on 24 August 1877 . ‘The leaves were not at all depressed; …
- … gardeners ( letter from W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 25 August 1877 ). At Down House, Darwin and …
- … a delicate twig’ ( letter to R. I. Lynch, 14 September 1877 ). Research on movement would continue …
- … of some Infusoria’ ( letter from F. J. Cohn, 5 August 1877 ). Francis’s paper eventually appeared …
- … wrote to the editor, George Croom Robertson, on 27 April 1877 , ‘I hope that you will be so good …
- … had written to the editor Ernst Ludwig Krause on 30 June 1877 , ‘I have been much interested by …
- … the German debate (letters to W. E. Gladstone, 2 October 1877 and 25 October [1877] ). …
- … and lively’ ( letter from W. E. Gladstone, 23 October 1877 ). Gifts of German and Dutch …
- … Darwin and Ernst Haeckel). Writing to Darwin on 11 March 1877 , Krause declared the journal ‘an …
- … the director, Adriaan Anthoni van Bemmelen, on 12 February 1877 : ‘I suppose that every worker at …
- … of his 70th year. Darwin was in fact 68 on 12 February 1877. Distinguished guests and …
- … & smooth as butter’ ( letter to C. E. Norton, 16 March 1877 ). Hooker was asked repeatedly by …
- … & me to dejeuner!!!’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 14 June 1877 ). Darwin was staying in …
- … centuries to come’ ( letter from C. C. Graham, 30 January 1877 ). Graham then gave a lengthy …
- … man and of societies’ ( letter from Marcellin de Bonnal, [1877] ). A similar complaint came from …
- … by a duke!’ ( letter to J. M. Rodwell, 3 June 1877 ). Back home, he learned from his brother that …
- … order of the day’ ( letter from E. A. Darwin, 27 January [1877] ). Carlyle’s remarks were …
- … . In a letter from an unknown correspondent on 13 June 1877 , he was criticised for having quoted …
- … monstrosity ( letter from C. T. E. Siebold, 10 October 1877 ). An American banker, William Burrows …
- … back our civilization’ ( letter from W. B. Bowles, 17 May 1877 ). Bowles proposed that such …
- … of humanity beneath’ ( letter from W. B. Bowles, 18 May 1877 ). More transitional human …
- … inflexible tails ( letter from Arthur Mellersh, 1 January 1877 ). The American physician Jesse …
- … (Trollope 1867; letter to G. J. Romanes, [1 and 2 December 1877] ). Dispute and …
- … George and Francis. He wrote to Francis on 24 September 1877 about his forthcoming work, Life …
- … value’, he confessed in a letter of 25 November 1877 that the book had ‘resolved itself into a …
- … physical’ ( letter from W. M. Moorsom, 10 September 1877 ). Darwin was doubtful of the elephant …
1877 letters now online
Summary
Flowers, bloom, a son married . . . and a suspended monkey in Cambridge at Darwin's honorary LLD ceremony. The transcripts and footnotes of over 600 letters written to and from Darwin in 1877 are now online. Read more about Darwin's life in 1877…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of over 600 letters written to and from Darwin in 1877 are now online. Read more about Darwin& …
Photograph album of German and Austrian scientists
Summary
The album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil Rade, and contained 165 portraits of German and Austrian scientists. The work was lavishly produced and bound in blue velvet with metal embossing. Its ornate…
Matches: 7 hits
- … album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil Rade …
- … have ever received ( Letter to Ernst Haeckel, 16 February 1877 ) …
- … the start of his 70th year, but Darwin was only 68 in 1877. Despite this oversight, the album …
- … world.— ( Letter from Leonard Blomefield, 12 March 1877 ) Familiar faces Ernst …
- … with the final album. He wrote to Darwin on 9 February 1877 : ‘what will perhaps astonish you is …
- … worth to give you ( Letter from J. V. Carus, 22 March 1877 ) The professor of …
- … scientific work. ( Letter from C. G. Semper, 26 April 1877 ) Carl Kraus, an …
4.25 'Punch' 1877 re. Cambridge doctorate
Summary
< Back to Introduction Punch often ridiculed Darwin by showing him as a monkey or in other animalistic forms, but in 1877, when he at last received an honorary degree from Cambridge University, it paid its tribute to ‘wisdom’. ‘Punch to Dr. Darwin’…
Matches: 3 hits
Photograph album of Dutch admirers
Summary
Darwin received the photograph album for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from his scientific admirers in the Netherlands. He wrote to the Dutch zoologist Pieter Harting, An account of your countrymen’s generous sympathy in having sent me on my…
Matches: 5 hits
- … the photograph album for his birthday on 12 February 1877 from his scientific admirers in the …
- … lasting pleasure. ( Letter to Pieter Harting, 19 March 1877 ) Harting had also written …
- … it states his ‘69th Birthday’, when in fact he was 68 in 1877. It was arranged in alphabetical order …
- … from A. A. van Bemmelen and H. J. Veth, 6 February 1877 ) Dutch correspondents …
- … ( Letter from C. W. Thomson, 30 June 1877 ) Much earlier, in 1861, Tiberius Cornelis …
German and Dutch photograph albums
Summary
Darwin Day 2018: To celebrate Darwin's 209th birthday, we present two lavishly produced albums of portrait photographs which Darwin received from continental admirers 141 years ago. These unusual gifts from Germany and the Netherlands are made…
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: 6 hits
- … of plants.’ ( From Friedrich Hildebrand, 18 January 1877 ). Hermann Müller enthused that Darwin’s …
- … 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 …
- … index a little altered’ ( To R. F. Cooke, 11 December [1877] ). These changes were necessitated by …
- … wheat that he had studied ( From A. W. Rimpau, 10 December 1877 ). By the end of February 1878, …
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: 1 hits
- … tiredness of the later years (e.g. letter to E.M. Dicey, [1877] ). Working …
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 11074: Sayce, A. H. to Darwin, C. R., 27 July 1877 Darwin’s study of human nature …
Diagrams and drawings in letters
Summary
Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … activity at the site of a Roman villa, 15 November 1877 W. T. Thiselton-Dyer's …
Have you read the one about....
Summary
... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.
Matches: 1 hits
- … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …
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
- … grains by a dilution method. In his letter of 9 March 1877 , Darwin wrote: ‘Your calculation of …
People featured in the Dutch photograph album
Summary
List of people appearing in the photograph album Darwin received from scientific admirers in the Netherlands for his birthday on 12 February 1877. We are grateful to Hester Loeff for providing this list and for permission to make her research available.…
German poems presented to Darwin
Summary
Experiments in deepest reverence The following poems were enclosed with a photograph album sent as a birthday gift to Charles Darwin by his German and Austrian admirers (see letter from From Emil Rade, [before 16] February 1877). The poems were…
Matches: 6 hits
- … (see letter from From Emil Rade , [before 16] February 1877). The poems were composed by …
- … in Rade’s account of the making of the album (Rade 1877, pp. 39–40), but the others were published …
- … Letter from Emil Rade 1 [before 16] February 1877 2 Münster i./Westf. …
- … From Emil Rade [before 16] February 1877 2 Münster i./Westf. February 1877. …
- … this letter and the letter to Emil Rade, 16 February 1877. 3. The gift was a photograph …
- … Appendix VI. A number of other poems were included in Rade 1877. …
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
- … Treat, 5 January 1872 Letter to [E. M. Dicey?], [1877] Letter to C. A. Kennard …
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
Exercise: Caricatures of Science
Summary
Caricatures provide intriguing insights into both ideals and transgressions of gender. The following six images show caricatured representations of nineteenth-century men and women of science. They provide insight into the boundaries of what was deemed …
Matches: 1 hits
- … Lydia Becker (1877) Caricature of Lydia Becker from …
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…
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: 5 hits
- … | Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a …
- … 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 …
- … 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. …
1.14 William Richmond, oil
Summary
< Back to Introduction William Blake Richmond’s portrait of Darwin, dating from 1879, celebrated his honorary degree of LL.D (Doctor in Laws), awarded by Cambridge University in 1877. Darwin’s return to his alma mater for the presentation ceremony…