More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II
by
Charles Darwin
Part 14 out of 14
-of monotypic and polytypic genera.
-and monstrosities.
-and Natural Selection.
-ordination and.
-in peaches.
-in plants.
-produced by crossing.
-rate of action of.
-of small genera.
-sterility advantageous to.
-Weismann on.
-galls as cause of.
-and loss of dimorphism in Primula and Auricula.
-Sexual Selection and minute.
-transmission to sexes.
-Verlot on.
-Wallace on.
"Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," completion of.
-delay in publication.
-Lyell on.
-translation of.
-Wallace's opinion of.
-Darwin at work on.
Varieties, accumulation of.
-distinction between species and.
-fertility of.
-in insects.
-in large genera.
-of molluscs.
-production of.
-species the product of long series of.
-use of.
-Wallace on.
-elimination by crossing.
-zoologists neglect study of.
Vaucher, "Plantes d'Europe."
"Vegetable Teratology," Masters'.
Vegetative reproduction, Darwin on.
Veitch, J.
Velleia, fertilisation mechanism of.
Verbascum, crossing and varieties in.
-Scott's work on.
Verbenaceae.
Verlot, on variation in flowers.
Veronica, Antarctic species of.
Vessels, course of, as guide to morphology of flowers.
"Vestiges of Creation," Huxley's review of.
-the "Origin of Species" and.
-Vetch, extra-floral nectaries of.
Vetter, editor of "Kosmos."
Viburnum lantanoides, in Japan and east U.S.A.
Victoria Street Society for Protection of Animals against Vivisection,
charge brought against Dr. Ferrier by.
Villa Franca, Baron de, on varieties of sugar-cane.
Villarsia.
Vine, graft-hybrids of.
-varieties of.
-morphology of tendrils.
Viola, ancestral form of.
-cleistogamic flowers of.
-pollen-tubes of.
-Madagascan.
-Pyrenean.
-on Peak of Teneriffe.
-V. canina, fertilisation of.
-V. nana.
-V. odorata, floral biology of.
Virchow, Huxley's criticism of.
-publication by Hackel of Darwin's criticism of.
Viscum.
Vitality of seeds, in salt-water experiments.
Viti group of islands, effect of subsidence.
Vivisection.
Vochting, H., "Bewegung der Bluthen und Fruchte."
-letter to.
-"Organbildung im Pflanzenreich."
"Volcanic Geology," Dana's.
Volcanic islands, polymorphic species in.
-Darwin's geological observations on.
-Darwin's opinion of his book on.
-Lyell and Herschel on.
-relation to continents.
Volcanic phenomena, cause of.
-Darwin on.
-and elevation.
-as mere accidents in swelling up of dome of plutonic rocks.
-and subsidence.
Volcanic rocks.
Volcano, in interior of Asia.
Volcanoes, in S. America.
-compared with boilers.
-maritime position of.
-of St. Jago, Mauritius, and St. Helena.
-simultaneous activity of.
-and subsidence.
Volucella, as example of mimicry.
Vries, H. de, on plant-movements.
Vulcanicity.
Wagner, M., attacks Darwin.
-essay by.
-mentioned.
"Wahl der Lebens-Weise."
Wahlenberg, on variation of species in U.S.A.
Wales, Darwin's visit to.
-comparison of valleys of Lochaber and.
-Darwin on glaciers of.
-elevation of land in Scotland and.
-Murchison sees no trace of glaciers in.
-Ramsay on denudation of S.
Wallace, A.R., on beauty.
-criticises the expression, "Natural Selection."
-Darwin on cleverness of.
-letters to.
-letters to Darwin from.
-on Mastodon from Timor.
-notes by.
-on pangenesis.
-review of Bastian's "Beginnings of Life."
-on sterility.
-on success of Natural Selection.
-attributes Natural Selection to Darwin.
-on colour and birds' nests.
-Darwin's criticism of his "Geographical Distribution of Animals."
-differs from Darwin.
-on evolution of man.
-"Island Life."
-on wings of lepidoptera.
-review of Darwin's book on Expression.
-review of Lyell's "Principles of Geology."
-on Round Island.
-same ideas hit on by Darwin and.
-supplies information to Darwin on Sexual Selection.
-on variation.
-at work on narrative of travels.
Wallace, Dr., on sexes in Bombyx.
-on caterpillars.
Wallich, on Oxyspora paniculata.
Wallis, H.M., on ears.
-letters to.
Walpole.
Walsh, Benjamin Dann: was born at Frome, in England, in 1808, and died in
America in 1869, from the result of a railway accident. He entered at
Trinity College, Cambridge, and obtained a fellowship there after being
fifth classic in 1831. He was therefore a contemporary of Darwin's at the
University, though not a "schoolmate," as the "American Entomologist" puts
it. He was the author of "A Historical Account of the University of
Cambridge and its Colleges," London, 2nd edition, 1837; also of a
translation of part of "Aristophanes," 1837: from the dedication of this
book it seems that he was at St. Paul's School, London. He settled in
America in 1838, but only began serious Entomology about 1858. He never
returned to England.
In a letter to Mr. Darwin, November 7th, 1864, he gives a curious account
of the solitary laborious life he led for many years. "When I left England
in 1838," he writes, "I was possessed with an absurd notion that I would
live a perfectly natural life, independent of the whole world--in me ipso
totus teres atque rotundus. So I bought several hundred acres of wild land
in the wilderness, twenty miles from any settlement that you would call
even a village, and with only a single neighbor. There I gradually opened
a farm, working myself like a horse, raising great quantities of hogs and
bullocks...I did all kinds of jobs for myself, from mending a pair of boots
to hooping a barrel." After nearly dying of malaria, he sold his land at a
great loss, and found that after twelve years' work he was just 1000
dollars poorer than when he began. He then went into the lumber business
at Rock Island, Illinois. After seven years he invested most of his
savings in building "ten two-storey brick houses for rent." He states that
the repairs of the houses occupied about one-fourth of his time, and the
remainder he was able to devote to entomology. He afterwards edited the
"Practical Entomologist." In regard to this work he wrote (February 25th,
1867):--"Editing the 'Practical Entomologist' does undoubtedly take up a
good deal of my time, but I also pick up a good deal of information of real
scientific value from its correspondents. Besides, this great American
nation has hitherto had a supreme contempt for Natural History, because
they have hitherto believed that it has nothing to do with the dollars and
cents. After hammering away at them for a year or two, I have at last
succeeded in touching the 'pocket nerve' in Uncle Sam's body, and he is
gradually being galvanised into the conviction that science has the power
to make him richer." It is difficult to realise that even forty years ago
the position of science in Illinois was what Mr. Walsh describes it to be:
"You cannot have the remotest conception of the ideas of even our best-
educated Americans as to the pursuit of science. I never yet met with a
single one who could be brought to understand how or why a man should
pursue science for its own pure and holy sake."
Mr. L.O. Howard ("Insect Life," Volume VII., 1895, page 59) says that
Harris received from the State of Massachusetts only 175 dollars for his
classical report on injurious insects which appeared in 1841 and was
reprinted in 1842 and 1852. It would seem that in these times
Massachusetts was in much the same state of darkness as Illinois. In the
winter of 1868-9 Walsh was, however, appointed State Entomologist of
Illinois. He made but one report before his death. He was a man of
liberal ideas, hating oppression and wrong in all its forms. On one
occasion his life was threatened for an attempt to purify the town council.
As an instance of "hereditary genius" it may be mentioned that his brother
was a well-known writer on natural history and sporting subjects, under the
pseudonym "Stonehenge." The facts here given are chiefly taken from the
"American Entomologist" (St. Louis, Mo.), Volume II., page 65.
-as entomologist.
-letters to.
-letter to Darwin from.
-death of.
-and C.V. Riley.
Warming, E., "Lehrbuch der okologischen Pflanzengeographie."
Washingtonia.
Wasps, power of building cells.
Water, effect on leaves (see also Rain).
Water-weed, Marshall on.
Waterhouse, George Robert (1810-88): held the post of Keeper of the
Department of Geology in the British Museum from 1851 to 1880.
-review by Darwin of his book on Mammalia.
-on skeletons of rabbits.
-on wide range of genera.
-mentioned.
Waterloo, Darwin's recollections of.
Waterton.
Watson, H.C., alluded to.
-on the Azores.
-on British agrarian plants.
-on northward range of plants common to Britain and America.
-objection to Darwin's views.
-on Natural Selection.
-mentioned.
Waves, depth of action of.
Wax, secretion on leaves (see also Bloom).
Wealden period.
Weale, J.P.M., sends locust dung from Natal to Darwin.
Webb, on flora of Teneriffe.
Wedgwood, Elizabeth.
Wedgwood, Emma (Mrs. Darwin), letter to.
Wedgwood, Hensleigh: brother-in-law to Charles Darwin.
-Darwin visits.
-influenced by Lyell's book on America.
-on Tyndall.
Wedgwood, Josiah, letter to.
Weeds, adaptation to cultivated ground.
-English versus American.
-Asa Gray on pertinacity of.
Weeping, physiology of.
Weir, H.W., on Cytisus.
Weir, Mr. John Jenner (1822-94): came of a family of Scotch descent; in
1839 he entered the service of the Custom House, and during the final
eleven years of his service, i.e. from 1874 to 1885, held the position
of Accountant and Controller-General. He was a born naturalist, and his
"aptitude for exact observation was of the highest order" (Mr. M'Lachlan
in the "Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," May 1894). He is chiefly
known as an entomologist, but he had also extensive knowledge of
Ornithology, Horticulture, and of the breeds of various domestic animals
and cage-birds. His personal qualities made him many friends, and he
was especially kind to beginners in the numerous subjects on which he
was an authority ("Science Gossip," May 1894).
-experiments on caterpillars.
-letters to.
-extract from letter to Darwin from.
-on birds.
-invited to Down.
-value of his letters to Darwin.
-mentioned.
Weismann, A., Darwin asked to point out how far his work follows same
lines as that of.
-on dimorphism.
-"Einfluss der Isolirung."
-letters to.
-Meldola's translation of "Studies in Descent."
-"Studies in Theory of Descent."
-faith in Sexual Selection.
Wellingtonia.
Wells, Dr., essay on dew.
-quoted by Darwin as having enunciated principle of Natural Selection
before publication of "Origin."
Welwitschia, Hooker's work on.
-Darwin on.
-a "vegetable Ornithorhynchus."
Welwitschia mirabilis, seedlings of.
Wenlock, coral limestone of.
West Indies, plants of.
-coral reefs.
-elevation and subsidence of.
-orchids of.
Westminster Abbey, memorial to Lyell.
"Westminster Review," Huxley's review of the "Origin" in.
-Wallace's article.
Westwood, J.O. (1805-93): Professor of Entomology at Oxford. The Royal
medal was awarded to him in 1855. He was educated at a Friends' School
at Sheffield, and subsequently articled to a solicitor in London; he was
for a short time a partner in the firm, but he never really practised,
and devoted himself to science. He is the author of between 350 and 400
papers, chiefly on entomological and archaeological subjects, besides
some twenty books. To naturalists he is known by his writings on
insects, but he was also "one of the greatest living authorities on
Anglo-Saxon and mediaeval manuscripts" ("Dictionary of National
Biography").
-on range of genera.
-and Royal medal.
-mentioned.
Whales, Flower on.
Wheat, mummy.
-fertilisation of.
-forms of Russian.
Whewell, W.
Whiston.
Whitaker, W., on escarpments.
White, F.B., letter to.
-on hemiptera of St. Helena.
White, Gilbert, Darwin writes an account of Down in the manner of.
White, on regeneration.
Whiteman, R.G., letter to.
Whitney, on origin of language.
Wichura, Max, on hybrid willows.
-on hybridisation.
Widow-bird, experiments on.
Wiegmann.
Wiesner, Prof. J., disagrees with Darwin's views on plant movement.
"Das Bewegungsvermogen der Pflanzen."
-on heliotropism.
-letter to.
Wigand, A., "Der Darwinismus..."
-Jager's work contra.
Wight, Dr., on Cucurbitaceae.
Wilberforce, Bishop, review in the "Quarterly."
Wildness of game.
Wilkes' exploring expedition, Dana's volume in reports of.
Williamson, Prof. W.C.
Willis, J.C., reference to his "Flowering Plants and Ferns."
Willows, Walsh on galls of.
-Wichura on hybrid.
Wilson, A.S., letters to.
-on Russian wheat.
Wind-fertilised trees and plants, abundant in humid and temperate
regions.
Wingless birds, transport of.
Wings of ostrich.
Wire-bird, of St. Helena.
Witches' brooms.
Wives, resemblance to husbands.
Wollaston, Thomas Vernon (1821-78): Wollaston was an under-graduate at
Jesus College, Cambridge, and in late life published several books on
the coleopterous insects of Madeira, the Canaries, the Cape Verde
Islands, and other regions. He is referred to in the "Origin of
Species" (Edition VI page 109) as having discovered "the remarkable fact
that 200 beetles, out of the 550 species (but more are now known)
inhabiting Madeira, are so far deficient in wings that they cannot fly;
and that, of the twenty-nine endemic genera, no less than twenty-three
have all their species in this condition!" See Obituary Notice in
"Nature," Volume XVII., page 210, 1878, and "Trans. Entom. Soc." 1877,
page xxxviii.) "Catalogue" (Probably the "Catalogue of the Coleopterous
Insects of the Canaries in the British Museum," 1864.)
-catalogue of insects of Canary Islands.
-Darwin and Royal medal.
-in agreement with Falconer in opposition to Darwin's views on species.
-"Insecta Maderensia."
-on rarity of intermediate varieties in insects.
-review on the "Origin" by.
-on varieties.
-mentioned.
Wolverhampton, abrupt termination of boulders near.
Wood, fossil.
Wood, T.W., drawings by.
Woodcock, germination of seeds carried by.
-protective colouring of.
Woodd, C.H.L., letter to.
Woodpecker, adaptation in.
-and direct action.
-form of tail of.
Woodward, A.S., on Neomylodon.
-and C.D. Sherborn, "Catalogue of British Fossil Vertebrata."
Woodward, Samuel Pickworth (1821-65): held an appointment in the British
Museum Library for a short time, and then became Sub-Curator to the
Geological Society (1839). In 1845 he was appointed Professor of Geology
and Natural History in the recently founded Royal Agricultural College,
Cirencester; he afterwards obtained a post as first-class assistant in the
Department of Geology and Mineralogy in the British Museum. Woodward's
chief work, "The Manual of Mollusca," was published in 1851-56. ("A Memoir
of Dr. S.P. Woodward," "Trans. Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society,"
Volume III., page 279, 1882. By H.B. Woodward.)
-letters to.
World, age of the.
Worms, Darwin's work on.
-destruction by rain of.
-intelligence of.
Wrangel's "Travels in Siberia."
"Wreck of the 'Favourite'," Clarke's.
Wright, C., on bees' cells.
-letters to.
-review by.
Wright, G.F., extract from letter from Asa Gray, to.
Wydler, on morphology of cruciferous flower.
Wyman, Jeffries (1814-74): graduated at Harvard in 1833, and afterwards
entered the Medical College at Boston, receiving the M.D. degree in
1837. In 1847 Wyman was appointed Hervey Professor of Anatomy at
Harvard, which position he held up to the time of his death. His
contributions to zoological science numbered over a hundred papers.
(See "Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sciences," Volume II., 1874-75, pages
496-505.)
-letter from.
-on spontaneous generation.
-mentioned.
Xenogamy, term suggested by Kerner.
Xenoneura antiquorum, Devonian insect.
Xerophytic characters, not confined to dry-climate plants.
Yangma Valley, Hooker's account of dam in.
Yeo, Prof. Gerald.
Yew, origin of Irish.
York, British Association meeting (1881), (1844).
-Dallas in charge of museum.
Yorkshire, Hooker on glaciers in.
Yucca, fertilisation by moths.
Zacharias, Otto, letter to.
Zante, colour of Polygala flowers in.
Zea, Gartner's work on.
-hermaphrodite and female flowers on a male panicle.
-varieties received from Asa Gray.
Zeiller, R., "Le Marquis G. de Saporta, sa Vie..."
Zinziberaceae.
Zittel, Karl A. von, "Handbuch der Palaeontologie."
Zoea stage, in life-history of decapods.
Zoological Gardens, dangerous to suggest subsidising.
Zoological nomenclature.
Zoologist, Darwin as.
"Zoonomia," Erasmus Darwin's.
Zygaena (Burnet-moth), mentioned by Darwin in his early recollections.
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