Charles Darwin

An account of the Fine Dust which often falls on Vessels in the Atlantic Ocean.

Many scattered accounts have appeared concerning the dust which has fallen in considerable quantities on vessels on the African side of the Atlantic Ocean. It has appeared to me desirable to collect these accounts, more especially since Professor Ehrenbergs remarkable discovery that the dust consists in considerable part of Infusoria and Phytolitharia. I have found fifteen distinct statements of dust having fallen; and several of these refer to a period of more than one day, and some to a considerably longer time. Other less distinct accounts have also appeared. At the end of this paper I will give the particular cases, and will here only refer to the more striking ones and make a few general remarks. The phænomenon has been most frequently observed in the neighbourhood of the Cape Verd Archipelago. The mnost southern point at which dust is recorded to have fallen is noticed by Capt. Hayward, on whose vessel is fell whislt sailing from lat. 10° N. to 2° 56′ N.; the distance from the nearest of the Cape Verd Islands being between 450 and 850 miles. respecting the northern limit, the water fro the great distance on both sides of C. Noon (in lat. 28° 45′) is discoloured owing in part, according to Lieut. Arlett, to the quantities of falling dust. Hence the phænomenon has been observed over a space of at least 1600 miles of latitude. This dust has several times fallen on vessels when between 300 and 600 miles from the coast of Africa

The Origin of Species: A Variorum Text

The theories propounded by Charles Darwin in The Origin of Species have had a profound and revolutionary effect, not only on biology but also on philosophy, history, and theology. His concept of natural selection has created eruptive disputes among scientists and religious leaders of his time and ours. The phenomenal importance of his brilliant work is universally recognized, but the present volume marks the first scholarly attempt to compile a complete variorum edition of The Origin of Species, covering all of the extensive variants in the six texts published between 1859 and 1872. Darwins changes were extensive. His book grew by a third as he rewrote many passages four or five times, and in this edition Morse Peckham has recorded every one of those changes. A book of such distinctive dimensions, on a subject of such profound importance, will be of intense interest to historians of biology, evolution, science, literature, and cultural development. It will be an invaluable aid to the clarification and full comprehension of this complex and renowned scientific classic.

The zoology of the voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitzroy, R.N., during the years 1832 to 1836 :

Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) has been widely recognized since his own time as one of the most influential writers in the history of Western thought. His books were widely read by specialists and the general public, and his influence had been extended by almost continuous public debate over the past 150 years. New York University Presss new paperback edition makes it possible to review Darwins public literary output as a whole, plus his scientific journal articles, his private notebooks, and his correspondence. This is complete edition contains all of Darwins published books, featuring definitive texts recording original pagination with Darwins indexes retained. The set also features a general introduction and index, and introductions to each volume.

On the Geology of the Falkland Islands

The Falkland Islands being a British colony, and the most southern point at which palæozoic fossils have hitherto been discovered, I am induced to lay a short account of the geological structure of these islands before the Society. They stretch from 51° to 52° 30′ south, and extend about 130 miles in longitude. My examination was confined to the eastern island; but I have received, through the kindness of Captain Sulivan and Mr. Kent, numerous specimens from the western island, together with copious notes, sufficient to show the almost perfect uniformity of the whole group. The low land consists of pale brown and bluish clay-slate, including subordinate layers of hard, yellowish, sometimes micaceous, sandstone: in the clay-slate organic remains are exceedingly rare, whilst in some of the layers of sandstone they are extremely numerous, the same species being generally grouped together. Messrs. Morris and Sharpe have kindly undertaken to describe these fossils in a separate notice : they consist (as I am informed by them) of three new species of Orthis, which have a Silurian character ; three of Spirifer, which rather resemble Devonian forms, and approach closely to someof the Australian species described by Messrs. G. B. Sowerby and J. Morris ; one species both of Atrgpa and Chonetes, the latter approaching very closely some of the varieties of C. sarcinulata of Europe ; an Orbicula and an Avicula, the species not determinable ; and lastly, a fragment of a Trilobite and numerous traces of Crinoidea, apparently related to

Observations on the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, and of Other Parts of Lochaber in Scotland, with an Attempt to Prove That They Are of Marine Origin

After the two elaborate memoirs which were read nearly at the same time, before the Edinburgh Royal Society and the Geological Society of London, by Sir Thomas Lauder Dick and Dr. Macculloch, on the parallel roads of Glen Roy and the neighbouring valleys, any detailed account of the physical structure of that remarkable district would be superfluous. But from the excellence of these papers and the high authority of their authors, it is necessary carefully to consider the theories they have advanced, —a necessity I feel the more strongly, from having been convinced during the few first days of my examination of the district, that their conclusions were impregnable. Moreover the results to which I have arrived, if proved, are of so much greater geological importance than the mere explaining the origin of the roads, that I must beg to be permitted to enter into the subject in detail. Section I. —Description of the Shelves. The parallel roads, shelves, or lines, as they have been indifferently called, are most plainly developed in Glen Roy. They extend in lines, absolutely horizontal, along the steep grassy sides of the mountains, which are covered with a mantle, unusually thick, of slightly argillaceous alluvium. They consist of narrow terraces, which, however, are never quite flat like artificial ones, but gently slope towards the valley, with an average breadth of about sixty feet. There are only four shelves which are plainly marked for any considerable length; the lowest one according to Macculloch is 972 feet above the sea; the next above it is 212 feet higher, arid the third, eighty-two above the second, or 1266 above the sea; the fourth occurs only in Glen Gluoy; it is twelve feet higher than the third. I shall refer to them either by their absolute altitude, or as being the upper or lower one in the part under description, and not as first, second, or third; for it will be hereafter seen that others occur in every respect similar, only less plainly developed.

A New View of Darwinism

I AM much obliged to Mr. Howorth for his courteous expressions towards me in the letter in your last number. If he will be so good as to look at p. 111 and p. 148, vol. ii. of my “Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,” he will find a good many facts and a discussion on the fertility and sterility of organisms from increased food and other causes. He will see my reasons for disagreeing with Mr. Doubleday, whose work I carefully read many years ago.

The Origin of Species: VARIATION UNDER DOMESTICATION

Causes of Variability W hen we compare the individuals of the same variety or subvariety of our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which strikes us is, that they generally differ more from each other than do the individuals of any one species or variety in a state of nature. And if we reflect on the vast diversity of the plants and animals which have been cultivated, and which have varied during all ages under the most different climates and treatment, we are driven to conclude that this great variability is due to our domestic productions having been raised under conditions of life not so uniform as, and somewhat different from, those to which the parent-species had been exposed under nature. There is, also, some probability in the view propounded by Andrew Knight, that this variability may be partly connected with excess of food. It seems clear that organic beings must be exposed during several generations to new conditions to cause any great amount of variation; and that, when the organisation has once begun to vary, it generally continues varying for many generations. No case is on record of a variable organism ceasing to vary under cultivation. Our oldest cultivated plants, such as wheat, still yield new varieties: our oldest domesticated animals are still capable of rapid improvement or modification.

On the Transportal of Erratic Boulders from a lower to a higher level

It will, I think, be generally admitted that the most valid objection which has been advanced against the theory of the transportal of erratic boulders by floating ice, lies in the fact of their having not unfrequently been carried from a lower to a higher level. Mr. Hopkins, indeed, referring to certain boulders of a peculiar conglomerate described by Prof. Phillips, considers this fact as affording an absolute proof of the diluvial theory, since, he adds, “it is evident that no floating ice could possibly transport a boulder from the depths of the vale of Eden over the heights of Stainmoor.” Prof. Hitchcock has several times alluded to similar cases in North America as offering a very great difficulty.

Charles Darwin's The life of Erasmus Darwin

Introduction Synopsis Charles Darwins preface The Life of Erasmus Darwin by Charles Darwin Charles Darwins references Notes on the text.

Origins : selected letters of Charles Darwin, 1822-1859

Foreword Stephen Jay Gould Introduction Note on the text Acknowledgements Symbols and abbreviations Prologue Shrewsbury Edinburgh Cambridge The offer The voyage: South America - East Coast The voyage: South American - West Coast Homeward Bound 1837 1838 1839-1843 1844 1845-1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852-1854 1855.