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“Notes for Mr. Darwin”: Letters to Charles Darwin from Edward Blyth at Calcutta: A study in the process of discovery

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References

  1. Barbara G.Beddall, “Wallace, Darwin, and Edward Blyth: Further Notes on the Development of Evolution Theory”, J. Hist. Biol., 5 (1972), 155, 157. The full text of the part of Blyth's letter that refers to Wallace appears on pp. 155–158.

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  2. Alfred Russel Wallace, “On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species”, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. [2], 16 (1855), 184–196.

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  3. Ibid., p. 186.

  4. H. LewisMcKinney, “Alfred Russel Wallace and the Discovery of Natural Selection”, J. Hist. Med., 21 (1966), 350; Leonard G. Wilson, ed., Sir Charles Lyell's Scientific Journals on the Species Question (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970), pp. xli–xlix, 52–55, 65–66, 80; Barbara G. Beddall, “Wallace, Darwin, and the Theory of Natural Selection: A Study in the Development of Ideas and Attitudes”, J. Hist. Biol., 1 (1968), 261–323.

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  5. Gavin de Beer, ed., “Darwin's Journal”, Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Hist. Ser., 2 (1959), 13; comas added.

  6. Cambridge University Library (hereafter CUL), Handlist of Darwin Papers at the University Library, Cambridge (Cambridge: University Press, 1960), p. 27. The Blyth letters from Calcutta run from p. 25 to p. 145 of vol. 98 and equal nearly 250 single sheets, written in what Darwin described to Lyell as “a dreadful handwriting” (Francis Darwin, ed., More Letters of Charles Darwin: A Record of His Work in a Series of Hitherto Unpublished Letters [New York: Appleton, 1903, I, 155]), and described even by Blyth himself as a “villainous scrawl”, (p. 93[b] of the Blyth letters).

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  7. CharlesDarwin, Questions about the Breeding of Animals [1840]: Sherborn Fund Facsimile No. 3, with an Introduction by Sir Gavin de Beer (London: Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, 1968); Peter J. Vorzimmer, “Darwin's Questions About the Breeding of Animals (1839)”, J. Hist. Biol., 2 (1969), 269–281. The Darwin letters to Tegetmeier, of which 14 were written between August 1855 and December 1856, are in the Library of the New York Botanical Garden.

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  8. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 (21 April 1855), 57[b]; CharlesDarwin, Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, 2nd ed., rev. (New York: Appleton, 1892); The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, new ed. (New York: Appleton, 1892).

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  9. Loren C.Eiseley, “Charles Darwin, Edward Blyth, and the Theory of Natural Selection,” Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 103 (1959), 94–158. This contains reprints of the following papers by Blyth: “An Attempt to classify the ‘Varieties’ of Animals, with Observations on the marked Seasonal and other Changes which naturally take place in various British Species, and which do not constitute Varieties,” Mag. Nat. Hist., 8 (1835), 40–53 (pp. 115–122); “Observations on the various seasonal and other external Changes which regularly take place in Birds, more particularly in those which occur in Britain; with Remarks on their great Importance in indicating the true Affinities of Species; and upon the Natural System of Arrangement,” Mag. Nat. Hist., 9 (1836), 393–409, 504–514 (pp. 122–136); “On the Psychological Distinctions between Man and all other Animals; and the consequent Diversity of Human Influence over the inferior Ranks of Creation, from any mutual and reciprocal Influence exercised among the Latter,” Mag. Nat. Hist., 1 [n.s.] (1837), 1–9, 77–85, 131–141 (pp. 136–150). On the basis of these papers Eiseley claimed that “Blyth is more than a Darwinian precursor, that he is, instead, a direct intellectual forebearer in a phylogenetic line of descent... one of the forgotten parents of a great classic” (p. 103). For some contrary opinions, see Gavin de Beer, ed., “Darwin's Notebooks on Transmutation of Species,” Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Hist. Ser., 2 (1960), 35–37; and Camille Limoges, La Sélection Naturelle: Étude sur la Première Constitution d'un Concept (Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1970), pp. 69–70, 74.

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  10. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Paper, 98 (8 October 1855), 100[b]. Darwin marked this comment with double lines.

  11. James CowlesPrichard, Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, 4th ed. (London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, 1841), I, 13–104. The first edition, an expansion of Prichard's doctoral thesis of 1808, appeared in 1813, the second in 1826, and the third in 1836–37. Charles Lyell, Principles of Geology (London: Murray, 1830–33), II, 66–122; the 12th and last edition of Lyell's Principles was published in 1875.

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  12. Blyth, in Eiseley (see n. 9), p. 148.

  13. Ibid., pp. 129, 124.

  14. Darwin, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 (8 October 1855), 103[a].

  15. Blyth, in Eiseley (see n. 9), pp. 135, 128.

  16. Ibid., pp. 135, 134.

  17. Ibid., pp. 135, 150, 120, 124.

  18. Ibid., pp. 129–130, 143; and see also Beddall, “Wallace, Darwin,” pp. 286–287.

  19. Wallace, “On the Law,” p. 196.

  20. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 (8 October 1855), 99[b]–104[a].

  21. In 1835 Blyth had written: “In a large herd of cattle, the strongest bull drives from him all the younger and weaker individuals of his own sex, and remains sole master of the herd; so that all the young which are produced must have had their origin from one which possessed the maximum of power and physical strength; and which, consequently, in the struggle for existence, was the best able to maintain his ground, and defend himself from every enemy.” In Eiseley (see n. 9), p. 118. [b.g.b.]

  22. All of these birds have discontinuous distributions. The Great Skua (Catharcta skua) is unusual in having a bipolar distribution, breeding both in the North Atlantic and in the sub-Antarctic regions. The southern form does cross the equator in the Pacific Ocean in the non-breeding season, but it has never been seen in the North Atlantic. The Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) occurs discontinuously in the Old World from the British Isles to New Zealand; Sundarbans is the seaward edge of the Ganges delta, facing the Bay of Bengal. The Western Shriketit is sometimes classed with the Eastern Shriketit (Falcunculus frontalus) and sometimes separately as F. leucogaster. [b.g.b.]

  23. There are four species of Black (or Raven) Cockatoos (Calyptorhyn. chus) with red, white, or yellow in their tail feathers, while nine subspecies of the White Cockatoo (Kakatoe galerita) are recognized. The latter is sometimes also called the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, but the forms by that name mentioned by Blyth are classified by Peters as subspecies of K. sulphurea, K. sulphurea citrino-cristata being found on Sumba and K. sulphurea parvula on Timor and Samao; see James L.Peters, Check-List of Birds of the World (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937; reprinted 1961, Museum of Comparative Zoology), III, 173–174. [b.g.b.]

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  24. The Andean Cock-of-the-Rock (Rupicola peruviana) is found in the Andes of eastern and western Colombia and Ecuador, the Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock (R. rupicola) further to the east. Compare Blyth's reasoning here with Wallace's law! [b.g.b.]

  25. Cf. his earlier statement: “...I myself raised a pair of hybrids from the male Gallus Sonneratii [Sonnerat's Jungle Fowl], and a female common fowl, as like the wild hen bankiva [Gallus gallus bankiva, Red Jungle Fowl] as I could find. Very many (more than 100) of these hybrids were hatched, but only one pair attained maturity”; Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 (21 April 1855), 64[a]. [b.g.b]

  26. Capra ogagrus is C. hircus aegagrus. C. hircus, the Wild Goat or Pasang, is considered to be the ancestor of the domesticated goat. The Swiss Ibex is C. ibex. [b.g.b.]

  27. Charles Lucien Bonaparte, prince of Canino and nephew of Napoleon I, was a well-known ornithologist and zoologist. Schlegel was an early proponent of trinomial nomenclature. [b.g.b.]

  28. Anser cinereus = A. anser, the Grey Lag Goose. It is found in the northern hemisphere of the Old World and is not “a general inhabitant of the globe,” as Lyell had thought. The Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) breeds from Scotland eastward to Kamchatka in the northern hemisphere and winters as far south as Australia and New Zealand. The range of the Blacktailed Godwit (Limosa limosa) is roughly similar. [b.g.b.]

  29. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 ([Sept.?] 1855), 26[a].

  30. Blyth, in Loren C.Eiseley, “Charles Darwin, Edward Blyth, and the Theory of Natural Selection,” Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 103 (1959), pp. 115–122.

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  31. Prichard, Researches, into the Physical History of Mankind, 4th ed. (London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, 1841), I, 105.

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  32. WilliamLawrence, Lectures on Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man, 9th ed. (London: Bohn, 1848), pp. 66–67; the first edition was published in 1819. Lyell, Principles, 9th ed. (1853), p. 611. As he later wrote: “In former editions of this work from 1832 to 1853 I did not venture to differ from the opinion of Linnaeus, that each species had remained from its origin such as we now see it, being variable, but only within certain fixed limits”; 12th ed. (1875), II, 269.

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  33. James CowlesPrichard, Researches into the Physical History of Mankind, 4th ed. (London: Sherwood, Gilbert, and Piper, 1841), I, vii.

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  34. Blyth, in Loren C.Eiseley, “Charles Darwin, Edward Blyth, and the Theory of Natural Selection,” Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc., 103 (1959), pp. 115–119. Although Darwin seems to have read this paper, his only comment was in reference to the tailless cat; see Gavin de Beer et al., eds., “Darwin's Notebooks on Transmutation of Species, Part VI,” Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Hist. Ser., 3 (1967), 136. That Darwin had read Blyth's papers, as Eiseley surmised, is now, with the publication of his Notebooks, readily ascertainable.

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  35. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 (21 April 1855), 63[b]-64[a].

  36. H. LewisMcKinney, “Wallace's Earliest Observations on Evolution: 28 December 1845,” Isis, 60 (1969), 370–373, which gives the full original text of the letter; see also Kentwood D. Wells, “Sir William Lawrence (1783–1867): A Study of Pre-Darwinian Ideas on Heredity and Variation,” J. Hist. Biol., 4 (1971), 339–344, 360. Neither McKinney nor Wells comments on Wallace's inconsistencies, believing instead that calling permanent varieties species meant that there was no “species barrier” for Wallace.

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  37. Alfred RusselWallace, “Note on the Theory of Permanent and Geographical Varieties,” Zoologist, 16 (1858), 5887–5888; Wallace, “Notebook, 1855–1859,” MS, Linnean Society of London, pp. 62–63 (Blyth), p. 90 (von Buch); see Beddall, “Wallace, Darwin,” p. 287. Darwin also read Blyth (see n. 34) and von Buch on varieties, but only von Buch drew comments from him on this point; see De Beer, ed., “Darwin's Notebooks,” [Part I], pp. 60–61.

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  38. Wells, “Sir William Lawrence,” pp. 344–346.

  39. Blyth, in Eiseley (see n. 9), pp. 147, 148.

  40. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 ([Sept.?] 1855), 25[b]-34[b], the “Notes” run through p. 37[a].

  41. “In some few instances new breeds have suddenly originated; thus, in 1791, a ram-lamb was born in Massachusetts, having short crooked legs and a long back, like a turnspit dog. From this one lamb the otter or ancon semi-monstrous breed was raised...” (CharlesDarwin, Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication, 2nd ed., rev. (New York: Appleton, 1892); I, 104). The Penguin Duck is a domesticated duck, “the most remarkable of all the breeds” (ibid., I, 296), which stands nearly erect like a penguin. [b.g.b.]

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  42. The “Porcupine family” was an English family whose bodies were covered by “hard dark-coloured excresences of a horny nature”; see WilliamLawrence, Lectures on Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man, 9th ed. (London: Bohn, 1848), p. 306. [b.g.b.]

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  43. RobertKnox, The Races of Men (Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1850); see Wells, “Sir William Lawrence,” pp. 333–334. [b.g.b.]

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  44. For general information on the domestication of birds, see A. Landsborough Thomson, ed., A New Dictionary of Birds (London: Nelson, 1964), pp. 215–218. [b.g.b.]

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  45. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 ([Sept.?] 1855), 45[a].

  46. Barbara G.Beddall, “Wallace, Darwin, and Edward Blyth: Further Notes on the Development of Evolution Theory”, J. Hist. Biol., 5 (1972), pp. 271–287.

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  47. Blyth, in Eiseley (see n. 9), p. 141.

  48. Jean BaptisteLamarck, Zoological Philosophy: An Exposition with Regard to the Natural History of Animals, tr. Hugh Elliot (London: Macmillan, 1914; reprinted, New York: Hafner, 1963), p. 37.

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  49. Wallace, “On the Law,” p. 186.

  50. Blyth, in Eiseley (see n. 9), p. 118.

  51. Blyth, in CUL, Darwin Papers, 98 ([Sept.?] 1855), 37[a]-45[a]; the section on Lyell runs from p. 37[b] to p. 50[b].

  52. De Beer, ed., “Darwin's Notebooks,” [Part I], p. 65.

  53. JamesMarchant, Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences (New York: Harper, 1916), p. 74.

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  54. De Beer et al., eds., “Darwin's Notebooks,” Part III, p. 134; Part VI, p. 163; see also Sandra Herbert, “Darwin, Malthus, and Selection,” J. Hist. Biol., 4 (1971), 209–217.

  55. Gavin de Beer, ed., “Darwin's Notebooks on Transmutation of Species. Parts I–IV,” Bull. Brit. Mus. (Nat. Hist.), Hist. Ser., 2 (1960), 23–183; Gavin de Beer and M. J. Rowlands, eds. [Part V], ibid., 2 (1961), 185–200; Gavin de Beer, M. J. Rowlands, and B. M. Skramovsky, eds., “Part VI. Pages Excised by Darwin,” ibid., 3 (1967), 129–176. See also Limoges, La Sélection Naturelle, and Ernst Mayr, “The Nature of the Darwinian Revolution: Acceptance of Evolution by Natural Selection Required the Rejection of Many Previously Held Concepts,” Science, 176 (1972), 981–989.

  56. See Eiseley, “Charles Darwin, Edward Blyth”; Wells, “Sir William Lawrence”; Loren C. Eiseley, “Darwin, Coleridge, and the Theory of Unconscious Creation,” Daedalus, 94 (1965), 588–602; H. Lewis McKinney, “Edward Blyth,” Dictionary of Scientific Biography (New York: Scribner's, 1970), II, 205–207.

  57. See note 1.

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Beddall, B.G. “Notes for Mr. Darwin”: Letters to Charles Darwin from Edward Blyth at Calcutta: A study in the process of discovery. J Hist Biol 6, 69–95 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00137299

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