To W. E. Darwin 3 January [1872]
Summary
Thanks for letter [8137]. Finds observation at Stonehenge of depth of mould at different parts of slope "most valuable".
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Erasmus Darwin |
| Date: | 3 Jan [1872] |
| Classmark: | Natural History Museum, Library and Archives (General Manuscripts MSS DAR 30) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8140 |
Earthworms (1882): The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. Seventh thousand (corrected by Francis Darwin). London: John Murray. 1882.
Matches: 1 hit
- … Earthworms (1882): The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
Earthworms: The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881.
Matches: 1 hit
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
To J. V. Carus 21 March 1876
Summary
Glad to hear that [German edition of] Insectivorous plants is published.
Thanks for errata in Climbing plants [2d ed.].
Sends list [missing] of his papers, with those certainly not worth translating marked with a red line.
Reports on work in progress.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 21 Mar 1876 |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 139–140) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10422 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … 1876. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … 15 November 1876 . The paper ‘Formation of mould’ was published in 1840; CD published the …
- … their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … I think the short paper on the “formation of mould” is worth translating; though if I have …
From J. H. Gilbert 9 January 1882
Summary
Thanks CD for Earthworms.
Discusses the problem of accounting for difference between nitrogen in permanent grassland and ordinary arable soil. Finds castings of earthworms rich in nitrogen. Asks CD if his observations enable him to explain the source. If from below top-soil, it would be a considerable manuring.
| Author: | Joseph Henry Gilbert |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 9 Jan 1882 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 45 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13605 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … CD’s query about the acidity of vegetable mould (see Correspondence vol. 29, letter to J. …
- … Earthworms (1882): The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … 1882. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … remarkable book on the production of vegetable mould by earthworms? I sincerely hope you …
- … soil; but less than in rich Kitchen garden mould. Supposing a quantity equal to 10 tons in …
To J. V. Carus 8 December 1881
Summary
Thanks JVC for his corrections of "stupid errata" [in Earthworms]. Explains, in answer to JVC’s query, that he has used the word "humus" as the equivalent of vegetable mould.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 8 Dec 1881 |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 197–198) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13537 |
From Archibald Geikie 29 December 1871
Summary
Action of earthworms and weather on surface soil of old earthworks and fortifications.
| Author: | Archibald Geikie |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 29 Dec 1871 |
| Classmark: | DAR 165: 25 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8123 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Bibliography ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … the common earth-worm in the formation of mould, and to refer to the constant removal of …
- … paper on earthworms ( ‘Formation of mould’ ). There are remains of ancient cultivation …
To J. V. Carus 21 September 1880
Summary
CD is ashamed of length of Movement in plants – with index, nearly 600 pages. JVC will be awfully sick of ch. 1.
In intervals of correcting proofs, he is writing on the formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms. It will be a curious little book [Earthworms].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Julius Victor Carus |
| Date: | 21 Sept 1880 |
| Classmark: | Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz (Slg. Darmstaedter Lc 1859: Darwin, Charles, Bl. 181–182) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12718 |
To Fritz Müller 14 May 1877
Summary
Requests observations on sensitive Mimosa and movements of plants in rain.
Worm-castings.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Johann Friedrich Theodor (Fritz) Müller |
| Date: | 14 May 1877 |
| Classmark: | The British Library (Loan MS 10 no 42) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-10960 |
To Francis Darwin 22–3 May 1881
Summary
Is sending chapter [of Earthworms] for FD to look over.
Comments on FD’s work on movements of mould.
Is glad to hear about Julius von Sachs and the circumnutation theory.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 22–3 May 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 75 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13170 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … over. Comments on FD’s work on movements of mould. Is glad to hear about Julius von Sachs …
- … 473–80. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … papers coming out about the movements of mould. It will have the great advantage of …
- … Elfving ’s research on the movement of the mould Phycomyces nitens to Julius Wortmann , …
To Francis Darwin 25 July [1878]
Summary
Is forwarding the writing machine to Carl Semper.
Is glad FD has taken up his old friends, the twiners.
Hopes to get heliotropic aerial roots from J. D. Hooker. Asks FD to find out whether any moulds or roots are apheliotropic. Is puzzled by heliotropism in subterranean roots.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Francis Darwin |
| Date: | 25 July [1878] |
| Classmark: | DAR 211: 40 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-11631 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Hooker. Asks FD to find out whether any moulds or roots are apheliotropic. Is puzzled by …
- … possibly can find out from Sachs whether any moulds are apheliotropic, & whether any roots …
- … I wrote last I found old note by Dyer about mould turning to light, & I must modify the …
- … 20 [July 1878] , in which CD wondered why moulds would turn towards light if it was of no …
- … expressed his views on heliotropism in moulds in his letter of 11 May 1878 . Joseph Dalton …
To W. A. Leighton 1 December 1840
Summary
Acknowledges election as Honorary Member of Shropshire and North Wales Natural History and Antiquarian Society.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | William Allport Leighton |
| Date: | 1 Dec 1840 |
| Classmark: | Shropshire Archives (SA 6001/133/57) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-584 |
From Karl Möbius 25 October 1881
Summary
Thanks for presentation copy of Earthworms.
| Author: | Karl August (Karl) Möbius |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 25 Oct 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 200 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13431 |
From Elizabeth Wedgwood 10 November [1837]
Summary
Sends information about, and dates of treatment of peaty fields. Marl seems to have sunk to the natural stratum of hard white sand which lies below the peat.
Thanks for "Maer Hypothesis" ["Formation of mould" (1840), Collected papers 1: 49–53].
| Author: | Sarah Elizabeth (Elizabeth) Wedgwood; Josiah Wedgwood, II |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Nov [1837] |
| Classmark: | DAR 204: 189 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-385 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Thanks for "Maer Hypothesis" ["Formation of mould" (1840), Collected papers 1: 49–53]. …
- … vols. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. 1977. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … version of his paper ‘On the formation of mould’ , read 1 November 1837 at the Geological …
From H. N. Moseley 27 November 1881
Summary
Thanks CD for support in his election as Linacre Professor at Oxford.
J. Y. Buchanan, of the Challenger, says deep-sea red mud is fine because, like CD’s vegetable mould, it has been digested by worms and echinoderms.
Visited by John MacNeile Price, the son of CD’s friend from Chile, Mr Price; the son is now Surveyor General of Hong Kong.
| Author: | Henry Nottidge Moseley |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 27 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 171: 262 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13516 |
To J. H. Gilbert 15 March 1881
Summary
Returns the two books JHG had lent him. "I can plainly see I had better say nothing about the acidity of common mould."
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Henry Gilbert |
| Date: | 15 Mar 1881 |
| Classmark: | Rothamsted Research (GIL13) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13087 |
From J. W. Judd 10 October 1881
Summary
Thanks and praises CD for Earthworms.
| Author: | John Wesley Judd |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 10 Oct 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 168: 88 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13389 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … their habits. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1881. ‘Formation of mould’: On the …
- … formation of mould. [Read 1 November 1837. ] Transactions of the Geological Society of …
- … published in 1837, was ‘Formation of mould’ . The same error had been pointed out by Henry …
From Horace Darwin 7 October 1880
Summary
Worm-castings. Encloses notes about worm activities at Gravetye Manor.
| Author: | Horace Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 7 Oct 1880 |
| Classmark: | DAR 65: 99, 100; DAR 162: 72, 73 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-12742 |
Matches: 5 hits
- … Press. Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … Hall Reduced to 1 2 natural scale A. Turf 1 2 inch B. fine vegetable mould 2 1 2 inches C. …
- … Mould with fragments (describe) 21 1 2 D. Substratum of black peaty soil with grey pebbles …
- … be done in conventional manner’ ink circled red crayon Middle of diagram : ‘Mould | Usual …
- … Dark for mould’ pencil over erased illeg Bottom of diagram : ‘Oblique shading undisturbed …
From T. M. Reade 6 November 1881
Summary
Praise for Earthworms.
| Author: | Thomas Mellard Reade |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 6 Nov 1881 |
| Classmark: | DAR 176: 32 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-13465 |
Matches: 4 hits
- … Earthworms : The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
- … 6 1881 My dear Sir— I have read your book on Mould & Earthworms with a wonderful amount of …
- … the rootlets have grown? Between the clay & the peat there is in places mould 6in thick in …
- … others hardly any— This mould must have been the work of worms— Unfortunately there are no …
To Asa Gray 15 January 1872
Summary
Questions AG on earthworm activity in North America and would welcome information from northern Canada if AG has a correspondent there.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Asa Gray |
| Date: | 15 Jan 1872 |
| Classmark: | Archives of the Gray Herbarium, Harvard University (99) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-8158 |
| letter | (364) |
| bibliography | (4) |
| people | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (167) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (12) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (12) |
| John Murray | (12) |
| Darwin, Francis | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (185) |
| Darwin, Francis | (22) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (14) |
| Carus, J. V. | (11) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (10) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (352) |
| Darwin, Francis | (32) |
| Darwin, W. E. | (26) |
| Cooke, R. F. | (22) |
| John Murray | (22) |
| 1837 | (1) |
| 1838 | (3) |
| 1839 | (1) |
| 1840 | (1) |
| 1844 | (1) |
| 1847 | (1) |
| 1848 | (2) |
| 1849 | (1) |
| 1850 | (2) |
| 1851 | (1) |
| 1856 | (1) |
| 1857 | (1) |
| 1860 | (1) |
| 1861 | (1) |
| 1862 | (1) |
| 1863 | (4) |
| 1864 | (4) |
| 1865 | (1) |
| 1866 | (1) |
| 1867 | (2) |
| 1868 | (1) |
| 1869 | (3) |
| 1870 | (1) |
| 1871 | (16) |
| 1872 | (26) |
| 1873 | (5) |
| 1874 | (5) |
| 1875 | (3) |
| 1876 | (6) |
| 1877 | (15) |
| 1878 | (12) |
| 1879 | (5) |
| 1880 | (29) |
| 1881 | (182) |
| 1882 | (24) |
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 7 hits
- … letters relating to Darwin's 1881 publication Vegetable mould and earthworms . …
- … casting fieldwork. Her work was referenced in Vegetable Mould and Earthworms but she was …
- … fieldwork. Her work is referenced in Vegetable Mould but she was identified only as …
- … fieldwork and observations are referenced in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12742 …
- … referenced the work of "My son Horace" in Vegetable Mould . Letter …
- … habits of worms” referenced anonymously in Vegetable Mould . Letter 12760 - …
- … William’s work is proudly referenced in Vegetable Mould . …
Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin wrote, snappily-titled The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , …
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 5 hits
- … As his final published work, The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms was a …
- … Papers Darwin, C.R. 1840. On the formation of mould. Transactions of the Geological Society …
- … the hearing power of worms. In Chapter 1 of Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms , Darwin …
- … observe the effect of vibrations upon worms. In Vegetable Mould and Earth-worms Darwin wrote: …
- … vibrations! [1] Charles Darwin, Vegetable Mould and Earth-Worms (London: John …
Women as a scientific audience
Summary
Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Mary Tanner tells Darwin that she has read his Vegetable Mould and Worms “with great …
4.38 Franz Goedecker, caricature
Summary
< Back to Introduction In a caricature by the German artist Franz Goedecker, Darwin stands in front of a desk, confronting a monkey with a face resembling his own. It holds his book on earthworms, and is squatting on a copy of a German translation,…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of Berlin. The reference to The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms fixes …
4.41 'Punch', Sambourne cartoon 2
Summary
< Back to Introduction In October 1881, Darwin was included in Linley Sambourne’s series of ‘Punch’s Fancy Portraits’ of celebrities as No. 54. While the caption recurs to the old theme of Darwin’s views on human ancestry, the drawing contains a more…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to his just-published book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms. This …
Volume 29 (1881) is published!
Summary
In October 1881, Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. A slim volume on a subject that many people could understand and on which they had their own opinions, it went…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with …
Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
Matches: 1 hits
- … of Darwin’s last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , …
Darwin and Down
Summary
Charles and Emma Darwin, with their first two children, settled at Down House in the village of Down (later ‘Downe’) in Kent, as a young family in 1842. The house came with eighteen acres of land, and a fifteen acre meadow. The village combined the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … between species. His last publication, The formation of mould through the action of earthworms …
The full edition is now online!
Summary
For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working to track down all surviving letters written by or to Charles Darwin, research their content, and publish the complete texts. The thirtieth and final…
Matches: 1 hits
- … to a review of his latest book, The formation of vegetable mould through the actions of worms , …
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…
Volume 28 (1880) now published
Summary
1880 opened and closed with an irksome controversy with Samuel Butler, prompted by the publication of Erasmus Darwin the previous year. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of Movement in…
Matches: 1 hits
- … began writing his final book, The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms . …
2.3 Wedgwood medallions
Summary
< Back to Introduction Despite Darwin’s closeness to the Wedgwood family, he was studiously uninterested in the productions of his maternal grandfather Josiah Wedgwood I, the immensely successful ceramic manufacturer. In a letter to Hooker of January…
Matches: 1 hits
- … the first wax model portraying Darwin; the plaster mould created from it; and a clay relief cast …
Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest
Summary
The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … in Darwin’s last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms , published …
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: 1 hits
- … sent Murray the manuscript of The formation of vegetable mould, through the action of worms ( …
Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers
Summary
In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…
Matches: 3 hits
2.8 Alphonse Legros medallion
Summary
< Back to Introduction The painter, printmaker and sculptor Alphonse Legros created this bronze medallion with a profile portrait of Darwin in 1881, shortly before the latter’s death. According to a friend of Legros, the writer Thomas Okey, it was…
Matches: 1 hits
- … individually modelled in relief and cast in bronze from a mould by the traditional lost-wax process, …
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: 1 hits
- … on your dark grave,— Away with the delusion, the mould, It is the time of battle, …
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin and his unique public persona simply did not fit the mould of institutional, honorific …
Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'
Summary
The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…
Matches: 1 hits
- … The fourth presented his hypothesis on the formation of mould by earthworms. This explanation of a …
