Search: Darwin, C. R. in addressee 
1850-1859::1855 in date 
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From:
Hewett Cottrell Watson
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
11 Oct 1855
Source of text:
DAR 47: 163a–b
Summary:

Sends London catalogue of British plants with close species marked.

Charges E. Forbes with fraudulent appropriation of others’ work.

Comments on, and cites possible cases of, CD’s imagined rule that individuals of one or more species in a genus vary in some of those characters by which the species of that genus are distinguished.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
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From:
Edward Blyth
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
[22 Oct 1855]
Source of text:
DAR 98: A93–A98
Summary:

Gives references to William Allen’s narrative of the Niger expedition [William Allen and T. R. H. Thompson , A narrative of the expedition sent by Her Majesty’s Government to the river Niger in 1841 (1848)]: common fowl returning to wildness, details of domestic sheep, ducks, and white fowl.

Range of the fallow deer; its affinity to the Barbary stag.

Natural propensity of donkeys for arid desert.

Indian donkeys often have zebra markings on the legs.

Believes the common domestic cat of India is indigenous.

Occurrence of cultivated plants from Europe in India; success of cultivation. Ancient history of cultivated plants.

[CD’s notes are an abstract of this memorandum and indicate that it was originally 20 pages long.]

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
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From:
Edward Blyth
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
[8 Nov 1855]
Source of text:
DAR 98: A108–A109
Summary:

History of the rose in India.

Looks forward to reading what Hooker and Thompson say on species and varieties in their Flora Indica [1855].

Domestication of the turkey in America. The Peruvians had domestic dogs. W. W. Robinson of Assam reports that otters are extensively trained for fishing but cormorants never are. Gives Robinson’s comments on local domestic geese, rabbits, and cats.

EB has skins of jungle fowl from different localities to send.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
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From:
Hewett Cottrell Watson
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
8 Nov 1855
Source of text:
DAR 181: 31
Summary:

Artificiality of orders and genera in botany.

Difficulties in numerical analysis of close species in large and small genera.

HCW has "pretty strong bias towards the view that species are not immutably distinct".

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
William Henry Benson
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
5 Dec 1855
Source of text:
DAR 160: 150
Summary:

Observations on shells in India, listing some specimens with particular regard to their locality, elevation, and relationship to other known types.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
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From:
James Dwight Dana
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
[before 6 Dec 1855]
Source of text:
DAR (CD library – Dana, J. D. 1853)
Summary:

Responds to CD’s criticism of his use of word "Kingdom" in discussing geographical distribution of Crustacea.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
From:
Edward Blyth
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
8 Dec 1855
Source of text:
DAR 98: A104–A107
Summary:

What does CD think of A. R. Wallace’s paper in the Annals & Magazine of Natural History ["On the law which has regulated the introduction of new species", n.s. 16 (1855): 184–96]? EB considers it good on the whole.

Japanned variety of peacock.

Regional variations in bird species.

EB has little faith in the aboriginal wildness of the Chillingham cattle.

Races of humped cattle of India, China, and Africa.

Indian and Malayan gigantic squirrels, with various races remaining true to their colour, would afford capital data for Wallace, as would the local varieties of certain molluscs. Has Wallace’s lucid collation of facts unsettled CD’s ideas regarding the persistence of species?

Bengal hybrid race of geese is very uniform in colour and as prolific as the European tame goose [see Natural selection, p. 439].

Will see what he can do for CD with regard to domestic pigeons.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
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From:
George Gordon
To:
Charles Robert Darwin
Date:
24 Dec 1855
Source of text:
DAR 205.7: 281
Summary:

Reports success of hybrid cross with Vallota and the failure of another cross.

Contributor:
Darwin Correspondence Project
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