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Nicols, Arthur in correspondent 
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From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
7 Mar 1871
Source of text:
DAR 87: 19–20
Summary:

Referring to CD’s passage on monkeys’ acquiring taste for tea, coffee, and tobacco, AN tells of three monkeys he kept in Australia that developed strong taste for rum and smoking tobacco without being taught in any way [see Descent, 2d ed., p. 7 n.].

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
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From:
Charles Robert Darwin
To:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
Date:
[8, 9 or 10] Mar 1871
Source of text:
Nicols 1883 , p. 74
Summary:

The information about the phascolarctos [koala] is very surprising, and he will preserve AM’s note.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
11 Mar 1871
Source of text:
DAR 172: 56
Summary:

His previous account of Phascolarctos was based on notes made at the time of observation.

His report of the successful adoption of a koala infant by a cat comes from a trustworthy observer.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
15 Apr 1871
Source of text:
DAR 172: 57
Summary:

Objects to the negative reviews of Descent, notably in the Athenæum and the Times.

The exceptions are the Academy, Nature, and his own, in the Field [37 (1871): 210].

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
20 Aug 1872
Source of text:
DAR 172: 58
Summary:

Offers observations on expression in Australian dogs, since he knows CD plans to publish on the subject.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Charles Robert Darwin
To:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
Date:
[after 20 Aug 1872?]
Source of text:
Nicols 1885 , p. 192
Summary:

Can believe animals communicate together, but does not know how.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
23 Aug 1872
Source of text:
DAR 172: 59
Summary:

Doubts reported cases of homing instinct in dogs.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
21 Feb 1873
Source of text:
DAR 172: 60
Summary:

Comments on CD’s and William Huggins’ letter in Nature on "Inherited instinct" [Collected papers 2: 170–1]

and on A. R. Wallace’s letter on the homing faculty of animals. Believes many instances of homing are less remarkable than they appear.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
[before 20 Mar 1873]
Source of text:
Nicols 1885, pp. 51–2
Summary:

Compares sense of smell in dogs and cats.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Charles Robert Darwin
To:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
Date:
[20 Mar 1873]
Source of text:
Nicols 1885 , p. 52
Summary:

Responds to AN’s observations on sense of smell in cats and dogs.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
25 May 1873
Source of text:
DAR 172: 61
Summary:

Thanks to CD his candidature for the Zoological Society has been entertained.

Observed a flamingo, at the Zoological Gardens, that vomited on a bustard in answer to the latter’s harsh cries.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
[before 10 Nov 1875]
Source of text:
DAR 172: 62
Summary:

Discusses his ambitions.

Writes of rats that gnaw through lead pipes to find water.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Charles Robert Darwin
To:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
Date:
[before 10 Nov 1875]
Source of text:
Nature , 20 February 1879, p. 365
Summary:

Does not doubt animals reason in a practical fashion. Do not the rats hear the water trickling?

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
10 Nov 1875
Source of text:
DAR 172: 63
Summary:

Apologises for troubling CD to look for his lost MS.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
8 Dec 1875
Source of text:
DAR 172: 64
Summary:

He will repeat his experiments on the cat’s sense of smell.

The intelligence of rats is shown by their gnawing through lead pipes to find water.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
24 Feb 1876
Source of text:
DAR 172: 65
Summary:

Is putting together a natural history book for intelligent children [The puzzle of life (1877)]; would like CD’s opinion on the project in general and on the completed first chapter in particular.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Charles Robert Darwin
To:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
Date:
[after 24 Feb 1876]
Source of text:
DAR 172: 65/1v
Summary:

Supports AN’s idea [of a natural history book for children].

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
18 Jan 1878
Source of text:
DAR 172: 66
Summary:

He has obtained further evidence that rats gnaw through lead pipes for water. CD’s opinion that they hear trickling confirms his view that they possess reason.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project