More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1
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VOLUME I
DEDICATED WITH AFFECTION AND RESPECT, TO SIR JOSEPH HOOKER IN REMEMBRANCE OF HIS LIFELONG FRIENDSHIP WITH CHARLES DARWIN "You will never know how much I owe to you for your constant kindness and encouragement" CHARLES DARWIN TO SIR JOSEPH HOOKER, SEPTEMBER 14, 1862PREFACE
The "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin" was published in 1887. Since that date, through the kindness of various correspondents, additional letters have been received; among them may be mentioned those written by Mr. Darwin to Mr. Belt, Lady Derby, Hugh Falconer, Mr. Francis Galton, Huxley, Lyell, Mr. John Morley, Max Muller, Owen, Lord Playfair, John Scott, Thwaites, Sir William Turner, John Jenner Weir. But the material for our work consisted in chief part of a mass of letters which, for want of space or for other reasons, were not printed in the "Life and Letters." We would draw particular attention to the correspondence with Sir Joseph Hooker. To him Mr. Darwin wrote with complete freedom, and this has given something of a personal charm to the most technical of his letters. There is also much correspondence, hardly inferior in biographical interest, with Sir Charles Lyell, Fritz Muller, Mr. Huxley, and Mr. Wallace. From this unused material we have been able to compile an almost complete record of Mr. Darwin's work in a series of letters now published for the first time. We have, however, in a few instances, repeated paragraphs, or in one or two cases whole letters, from the "Life and Letters," where such repetition seemed necessary for the sake of clearness or continuity.
Our two volumes contain practically all the matter that it now seems desirable to publish. But at some future time others may find interesting data in what remains unprinted; this is certainly true of a short series of letters dealing with the Cirripedes, which are omitted solely for want of space. (Preface/1. Those addressed to the late Albany Hancock have already appeared in the "Transactions of the Tyneside Nat. Field Club," VIII., page 250.)
We are fortunate in being permitted, by Sir Joseph Hooker and by Mr. Wallace, to publish certain letters from them to Mr. Darwin. We have also been able to give a few letters from Sir Charles Lyell, Hugh Falconer, Edward Forbes, Dr. Asa Gray, Professor Hyatt, Fritz Muller, Mr. Francis Galton, and Sir T. Lauder Brunton. To the two last named, also to Mrs. Lyell (the biographer of Sir Charles), Mrs. Asa Gray and Mrs. Hyatt, we desire to express our grateful acknowledgments.
The present volumes have been prepared, so as to give as full an idea as possible of the course of Mr. Darwin's work. The volumes therefore necessarily contain many letters of a highly technical character, but none, we hope, which are not essentially interesting. With a view to saving space, we have confined ourselves to elucidating the letters by full annotations, and have for the same reason — though with some regret — omitted in most cases the beginnings and endings of the letters. For the main facts of Mr. Darwin's life, we refer our readers to the abstract of his private Diary, given in the present volume.
Mr. Darwin generally wrote his letters when he was tired or hurried, and this often led to the omission of words. We have usually inserted the articles, and this without any indication of their absence in the originals. Where there seemed any possibility of producing an alteration of meaning (and in many cases where there is no such possibility) we have placed the introduced words in square brackets. We may say once for all that throughout the book square brackets indicate words not found in the originals. (Preface/2. Except in a few places where brackets are used to indicate passages previously published. In all such cases the meaning of the symbol is explained.) Dots indicate omissions, but many omissions are made without being so indicated.
The selection and arrangement of the letters have not been easy. Our plan has been to classify the letters according to subject — into such as deal with Evolution, Geographical Distribution, Botany, etc., and in each group to place the letters chronologically. But in several of the chapters we have adopted sectional headings, which we believe will be a help to the reader. The great difficulty lay in deciding in which of the chief groups a given letter should be placed. If the MS. had been cut up into paragraphs, there would have been no such difficulty; but we feel strongly that a letter should as far as possible be treated as a whole. We have in fact allowed this principle to interfere with an accurate classification, so that the reader will find, for instance, in the chapters on Evolution, questions considered which might equally well have come under Geographical Distribution or Geology, or questions in the chapter on Man which might have been placed under the heading Evolution. In the same way, to avoid mutilation, we have allowed references to one branch of science to remain in letters mainly concerned with another subject. For these irregularities we must ask the reader's patience, and beg him to believe that some pains have been devoted to arrangement.
Mr. Darwin, who was careful in other things, generally omitted the date in familiar correspondence, and it is often only by treating a letter as a detective studies a crime that we can make sure of its date. Fortunately, however, Sir Joseph Hooker and others of Darwin's correspondents were accustomed to add the date on which the letters were received. This sometimes leads to an inaccuracy which needs a word of explanation. Thus a letter which Mr. Darwin dated "Wednesday" might be headed by us "Wednesday {January 3rd, 1867}," the latter half being the date on which the letter was received; if it had been dated by the writer it would have been "Wednesday, January 2nd, 1867."
In thanking those friends — especially Sir Joseph Hooker and Mr. Wallace — who have looked through some of our proof-sheets, we wish to make it clear that they are not in the smallest degree responsible for our errors or omissions; the weight of our shortcomings rests on us alone.
We desire to express our gratitude to those who have so readily supplied us with information, especially to Sir Joseph Hooker, Professor Judd, Professor Newton, Dr. Sharp, Mr. Herbert Spencer, and Mr. Wallace. And we have pleasure in mentioning Mr. H.W. Rutherford, of the University Library, to whose conscientious work as a copyist we are much indebted.
Finally, it is a pleasure to express our obligation to those who have helped us in the matter of illustrations. The portraits of Dr. Asa Gray, Mr. Huxley, Sir Charles Lyell, Mr. Romanes, are from their respective Biographies, and for permission to make use of them we have to thank Mrs. Gray, Mr. L. Huxley, Mrs. Lyell, and Mrs. Romanes, as well as the publishers of the books in question. For the reproduction of the early portrait of Mr. Darwin we are indebted to Miss Wedgwood; for the interesting portraits of Hugh Falconer and Edward Forbes we have to thank Mr. Irvine Smith, who obtained for us the negatives; these being of paper, and nearly sixty years old, rendered their reproduction a work of some difficulty. We also thank Messrs. Elliott & Fry for very kindly placing at our disposal a negative of the fine portrait, which forms the frontispiece to Volume II. For the opportunity of making facsimiles of diagrams in certain of the letters, we are once more indebted to Sir Joseph Hooker, who has most generously given the original letters to Mr. Darwin's family.
Cambridge, October, 1902.
MORE LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN
VOLUME I.
OUTLINE OF CHARLES DARWIN'S LIFE
BASED ON HIS DIARY, DATED AUGUST 1838References to the Journals in which Mr. Darwin's papers were published will be found in his "Life and Letters" III., Appendix II. We are greatly indebted to Mr. C.F. Cox, of New York, for calling our attention to mistakes in the Appendix, and we take this opportunity of correcting them.
Appendix II., List ii. — Mr. Romanes spoke on Mr. Darwin's essay on Instinct at a meeting of the Linnean Society, December 6th, 1883, and some account of it is given in "Nature" of the same date. But it was not published by the Linnean Society.
Appendix II., List iii. — "Origin of saliferous deposits. Salt lakes of Patagonia and La Plata" (1838). This is the heading of an extract from Darwin's volume on South America reprinted in the "Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society," Volume II., Part ii., "Miscellanea," pages 127-8, 1846.
The paper on "Analogy of the Structure of some Volcanic Rocks, etc." was published in 1845, not in 1851.
A paper "On the Fertilisation of British Orchids by Insect Agency," in the "Entomologist's Weekly Intelligencer" viii., and "Gardeners' Chronicle," June 9th, 1860, should be inserted in the bibliography.
1809. February 12th: Born at Shrewsbury.
1817. Death of his mother.
1818. Went to Shrewsbury School.
1825. Left Shrewsbury School.
1826.
October: Went to Edinburgh University. Read two papers before the Plinian Society of Edinburgh "at the close of 1826 or early in 1827."
1827. Entered at Christ's College, Cambridge.
1828. Began residence at Cambridge.
1831.
January: Passed his examination for B.A., and kept the two following terms.
August: Geological tour with Sedgwick.
September 11th: Went to Plymouth to see the "Beagle."
October 2nd: "Took leave of my home."
December 27th: "Sailed from England on our circumnavigation."
1832.
January 16th: "First landed on a tropical shore" (Santiago).
1833.
December 6th: "Sailed for last time from Rio Plata."
1834.
June 10th: "Sailed for last time from Tierra del Fuego."
1835.
September 5th: "Sailed from west shores of South America."
November 16th: Letters to Professor Henslow, read at a meeting of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.
November 18th: Paper read before the Geological Society on Notes made during a Survey of the East and West Coasts of South America in years 1832-35.
1836.
May 31st: Anchored at the Cape of Good Hope.
October 2nd: Anchored at Falmouth.
October 4th: Reached Shrewsbury after an absence of five years and two days.
December 13th: Went to live at Cambridge.
1837.
January 4th: Paper on Recent Elevation in Chili read.
March 13th: Settled at 36, Great Marlborough Street.
March 14th: Paper on "Rhea" read.
May: Read papers on Coral Formation, and on the Pampas, to the Geological Society.
July: Opened first note-book on Transmutation of Species.
March 13th to November: Occupied with his Journal.
October and November: Preparing the scheme for the Zoology of the Voyage of the "Beagle." Working at Geology of South America.
November 1st: Read the paper on Earthworms before the Geological Society.
1838.
Worked at the Geology of South America and Zoology of Voyage. "Some little species theory."
March 7th: Read paper on the Connexion of certain Volcanic Phenomena and on the Formation of Mountain Chains, to the Geological Society.
May: Health began to break down.
June 23rd: Started for Glen Roy. The paper on Glen Roy was written in August and September.
October 5th: Began Coral paper.
November 11th: Engaged to be married to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood.
December 31st: "Entered 12 Upper Gower Street."
1839.
January 29th: Married at Maer.
February and March: Some work on Corals and on Species Theory.
March (part) and April: Working at Coral paper. Papers on a Rock seen on an Iceberg, and on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy. Published "Journal and Remarks," being volume iii. of the "Narrative of the Surveying Voyages of H.M.S. 'Adventure' and 'Beagle,' etc." For the rest of the year, Corals and Zoology of the Voyage. Publication of the "Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. 'Beagle,'" Part II. (Mammalia).
1840.
Worked at Corals and the Zoology of the Voyage. Contributed Geological introduction to Part I. of the "Zoology of the Voyage" (Fossil Mammalia by Owen).
1841.
Publication of Part III. of the "Zoology of the Voyage" (Birds). Read paper on Boulders and Glacial Deposits of South America, to Geological Society. Published paper on a remarkable bar of Sandstone off Pernambuco, on the coast of Brazil. Publication of Part IV. of "Zoology of the Voyage" (Fish).
1842.
May 6th: Last proof of the Coral book corrected.
June: Examined Glacier action in Wales. "Wrote pencil sketch of my Species Theory."
July: Wrote paper on Glaciers of Caernarvonshire.
October: Began his book on Volcanic Islands.
1843.
Working at "Volcanic Islands" and "some Species work."
1844.
February 13th: Finished "Volcanic Islands."
July to September: Wrote an enlarged version of Species Theory. Papers on Sagitta, and on Planaria.
July 27th: Began his book on the Geology of South America.
1845.
Paper on the Analogy of the Structure of Volcanic Rocks with that of Glaciers. "Proc. R. Soc. Edin."
April 25th to August 25th: Working at second edition of "Naturalist's Voyage."
1846.
October 1st: Finished last proof of "Geological Observations on South America." Papers on Atlantic Dust, and on Geology of Falkland Islands, communicated to the Geological Society. Paper on Arthrobalanus.
1847.
Working at Cirripedes. Review of Waterhouse's "Natural History of the Mammalia."
1848.
March 20th: Finished Scientific Instructions in Geology for the Admiralty Manual. Working at Cirripedes. Paper on Erratic Boulders.
1849.
Health especially bad. Working at Cirripedes.
March-June: Water-cure at Malvern.
1850.
Working at Cirripedes. Published Monographs of Recent and Fossil Lepadidae.
1852.
Working at Cirripedes.
1853.
November 30th: "Royal Medal given to me."
1854.
Published Monographs on Recent and on Fossil Balanidae and Verrucidae.
September 9th: Finished packing up all my Cirripedes. "Began sorting notes for Species Theory."
1855.
March-April: Experiments on the effect of salt water on seeds. Papers on Icebergs and on Vitality of Seeds.
1856.
May 14th: "Began, by Lyell's advice, writing Species Sketch" (described in "Life and Letters" as the "Unfinished Book").
December 16th: Finished Chapter III. Paper read to Linnean Society, On Sea-water and the Germination of Seeds.
1857.
September 29th: Finished Chapters VII. and VIII.
September 30th to December 29th: Working on Hybridism. Paper on the Agency of Bees in the Fertilisation of Papilionaceous Flowers.
1858.
March 9th: "Finished Instinct chapter."
June 18th: Received Mr. Wallace's sketch of his evolutionary theory.
July 1st: Joint paper of Darwin and Wallace read at the Linnean Society.
July 20th to July 27th: "Began Abstract of Species book," i.e., the "Origin of Species," at Sandown, I.W. Paper on Bees and Fertilisation of Flowers.
1859.
May 25th: Began proof-sheets of the "Origin of Species."
November 24th: Publication of the "Origin": 1250 copies printed.
October 2nd to December 9th: At the water-cure establishment, Ilkley, Yorkshire.
1860.
January 7th: Publication of Edition II. of "Origin" (3000 copies).
January 9th: "Looking over MS. on Variation." Paper on the Fertilisation of British Orchids.
July and again in September: Made observations on Drosera. Paper on Moths and Flowers. Publication of "A Naturalist's Voyage."
1861.
Up to July at work on "Variation under Domestication."
April 30th: Publication of Edition III. of "Origin" (2000 copies).
July to the end of year: At work on Orchids.
November: Primula paper read at Linnean Society. Papers on Pumilio and on Fertilisation of Vinca.
1862.
May 15th: Orchid book published. Working at Variation. Paper on Catasetum (Linnean Society). Contribution to Chapter III. of Jenyns' Memoir of Henslow.
1863.
Working at "Variation under Domestication." Papers on Yellow Rain, the Pampas, and on Cirripedes. A review of Bates' paper on Mimetic Butterflies. Severe illness to the end of year.
1864.
Illness continued until April. Paper on Linum published by the Linnean Society.
May 25th: Paper on Lythrum finished.
September 13th: Paper on Climbing Plants finished. Work on "Variation under Domestication."
November 30th: Copley medal awarded to him.
1865.
January 1st: Continued at work on Variation until April 22nd. The work was interrupted by illness until late in the autumn.
February: Read paper on Climbing Plants.
December 25th: Began again on Variation.
1866.
Continued work at "Variation under Domestication."
March 1st to May 10th: At work on Edition IV. of the "Origin." Published June (1250 copies). Read paper on Cytisus scoparius to the Linnean Society.
December 22nd: Began the last chapter of "Variation under Domestication."
1867.
November 15th: Finished revises of "Variation under Domestication."
December: Began papers on Illegitimate Unions of Dimorphic and Trimorphic Plants, and on Primula.
1868.
January 30th: Publication of "Variation under Domestication."
February 4th: Began work on Man.
February 10th: New edition of "Variation under Domestication." Read papers on Illegitimate Unions of Dimorphic and Trimorphic Plants, and on Verbascum.
1869.
February 10th: "Finished fifth edition of 'Origin'; has taken me forty-six days."
Edition V. published in May.
Working at the "Descent of Man." Papers on the Fertilisation of Orchids, and on the Fertilisation of Winter-flowering Plants.
1870.
Working at the "Descent of Man." Paper on the Pampas Woodpecker.
1871.
January 17th: Began the "Expression of the Emotions."
February 24th: "Descent of Man" published (2500 copies).
April 27th: Finished the rough copy of "Expression."
June 18th: Began Edition VI. of "Origin." Paper on the Fertilisation of Leschenaultia.
1872.
January 10th: Finished proofs of Edition VI. of the "Origin," and "again rewriting 'Expression.'"
August 22nd: Finished last proofs of "Expression."
August 23rd: Began working at Drosera.
November: "Expression" published (7000 copies, and 2000 more printed at the end of the year.)
November 8th: "At Murray's sale 5267 copies sold to London booksellers."
1873.
January: Correcting the Climbing Plants paper for publication as a book.
February 3rd: At work on "Cross-fertilisation."
February to September: Contributions to "Nature."
June 14th: "Began Drosera again."
November 20th: Began "Descent of Man," Edition II.
1874.
"Descent of Man," Edition II, in one volume, published (Preface dated September). "Coral Reefs," Edition II., published.
April 1st: Began "Insectivorous Plants."
February to May: Contributed notes to "Nature."
1875.
July 2nd: "Insectivorous Plants" published (3000 copies); 2700 copies sold immediately.
July 6th: "Correcting 2nd edition of 'Variation under Domestication.'" It was published in the autumn.
September 1st (approximately): Began on "Cross and Self-Fertilisation."
November: Vivisection Commission.
1876.
May 5th: "Finished MS., first time over, of 'Cross and Self-Fertilisation.'"
May to June: Correction of "Fertilisation of Orchids," Edition II. Wrote his Autobiographical Sketch.
May and November: Contributions to "Nature."
August 19th: First proofs of "Cross and Self-Fertilisation."
November 10th: "Cross and Self-Fertilisation" published (1500 copies).
1877.
"All the early part of summer at work on 'Different Forms of Flowers.'"
July: Publication of "Different Forms of Flowers" (1250 copies). During the rest of the year at work on the bloom on leaves, movements of plants, "and a little on worms."
November: LL.D. at Cambridge. Second edition of "Fertilisation of Orchids" published. Contributions to "Nature," "Gardeners' Chronicle," and "Mind."
1878.
The whole year at work on movements of plants, and on the bloom on leaves.
May: Contribution to "Nature." Second edition of "Different Forms of Flowers." Wrote prefatory letter to Kerner's "Flowers and their Unbidden Guests."
1879.
The whole year at work on movements of plants, except for "about six weeks" in the spring and early summer given to the "Life of Erasmus Darwin," which was published in the autumn. Contributions to "Nature."
1880. "All spring finishing MS. of 'Power of Movement in Plants' and proof sheets." "Began in autumn on Worms." Prefatory notice written for Meldola's translation of Weismann's book.
November 6th: 1500 copies of "Power of Movement" sold at Murray's sale. Contributions to "Nature."
1881.
During all the early part of the year at work on the "Worm book." Several contributions to "Nature."
October 10th: The book on "Earthworms" published: 2000 copies sold at once.
November: At work on the action of carbonate of ammonia on plants.
1882.
No entries in the Diary.
February: At work correcting the sixth thousand of the "Earthworms."
March 6th and March 16th: Papers on the action of Carbonate of Ammonia on roots, etc., read at the Linnean Society.
April 6th: Note to "Nature" on Dispersal of Bivalves.
April 18th: Van Dyck's paper on Syrian Dogs, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin, read before the Zoological Society.
April 19th: Charles Darwin died at Down.
CHARLES DARWIN
CHAPTER 1.I. — AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL FRAGMENT, AND EARLY LETTERS
1809-1842(Chapter I./1. In the process of removing the remainder of Mr. Darwin's books and papers from Down, the following autobiographical notes, written in 1838, came to light. They seem to us worth publishing — both as giving some new facts, and also as illustrating the interest which he clearly felt in his own development. Many words are omitted in the manuscript, and some names incorrectly spelled; the corrections which have been made are not always indicated.)
My earliest recollection, the date of which I can approximately tell, and which must have been before I was four years old, was when sitting on Caroline's (Caroline Darwin) knee in the drawing room, whilst she was cutting an orange for me, a cow ran by the window which made me jump, so that I received a bad cut, of which I bear the scar to this day. Of this scene I recollect the place where I sat and the cause of the fright, but not the cut itself, and I think my memory is real, and not as often happens in similar cases, {derived} from hearing the thing often repeated, {when} one obtains so vivid an image, that it cannot be separated from memory: because I clearly remember which way the cow ran, which would not probably have been told me. My memory here is an obscure picture, in which from not recollecting any pain I am scarcely conscious of its reference to myself.