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The Charles Darwin Collection
The Darwin Correspondence Project is publishing letters written by and to the naturalist Charles Darwin (1809–1882). Complete transcripts of letters are being made available through the Project’s website (www.darwinproject.ac.uk) after publication in the ongoing print edition of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin (Cambridge University Press 1985–). Metadata and summaries of all known letters (c. 15,000) appear in Ɛpsilon, and the full texts of available letters can also be searched, with links to the full texts.
Proportion of sexes in chaffinches.
Pugnacity of blackbirds and robins.
Harrison Weir reports up to nine eggs in starling nests.
Newspaper report of a sheep born with its owner’s brand.
Otto Staudinger’s catalogue shows prices of female Lepidoptera to be higher than those of males.
Discusses apes and their relationships to each other. Writes particularly of the gibbon, its structure and well-developed legs giving it the ability to walk without using its hands.
Discusses the human foot and its abnormalities; notes an example of syndactylism.
Gives his observations on sexual differences in coloration of terns and ostriches.
Describes a curious litter of rabbits.
Pairing of rooks, courtship of golden pheasant.
Behaviour of finch hybrids.
Seasonal coloration of birds; bright plumage results from sexual selection.
Langstaff has seen no trace of blushing on the body.
Proportion of sexes in ruffs [see Descent 1: 306].
Colour display in linnets, songbirds. Courtship display of Australian pigeon at zoo.
Answers CD’s queries on difference in size of male and female Scottish deerhounds; female preference for larger males; details about ratio of sexes born. Quotes from letter of Archibald McNeill on difference in size of male and female Scotch deerhounds.
Raises a question about a statement in Orchids; his observations differ.
Replies to CD’s queries regarding sexual differences in gibbons’ voices, chameleon behaviour, and the occurrence of spurs in pheasants and peahens. Discusses sexual differences in structure and habit within certain bird species.
Answers CD’s question on whether any female birds regularly sing.
Sex ratios in cattle and sheep.
Offers deerhound puppy.
Asks for photograph.
Encloses letter from George Cupples of notes, with excerpts from letters from Peter Robertson and John Wright, relating to difference in size between male and female deerhounds. Reports on weight statistics of ten [deerhound] puppies being observed.
GHKT is going to procure some local smoke-coloured fowls and investigate them for CD.
Encloses letter on expression queries from S. O. Glenie.
Relates some observations on expression among Australian aboriginals and encloses answers to CD’s queries from other observers. [These include letters and observations from: J. A. Hagenauer, 28 May 1868; Archibald Grahame Lang, 17 June 1868; H. B. Lane, 24 June 1868; Templeton Bunnett, 25 June 1868; J. Bulmer (1868). (See introduction to Expression.)]
Discusses the development of horns in antelopes. Remarks on the variation within and between the species of Cervus and on their relationship to each other.
Sexual differences in coloration. Sexual selection versus natural selection as explanations. ARW continues to argue against sexual selection, saying that natural selection, in keeping the female dull for protection, would account for differences in sexual colouring more effectively than inheritance and partial transmission of sexually selected male colours. Colours of female birds of paradise. Protective coloration. Disagrees with CD on coincidence of hidden nests and bright colours of females.
Encloses further replies from Australia to CD’s queries on expression. Wilson’s letter to CD enclosed the letter from Smyth with its enclosures (see S6314).
Both sexes of Crossoptilon auritum (eared pheasant) obtained the red cheeks the first year.
Coloration of the linnet.
Hybrid geese.
Proportions of sexes in sheep and cattle.
Pairing habits of crows.