It bears a large crack, caused after the great naturalist put it in a box that was too small for it.

The egg is the only one known to exist from Darwin’s Beagle collection.

At one time it was thought there were a dozen or more.

She said: “It was an exhilarating experience. After working on the egg collections for 10 years this was a tremendous thing to happen.”

It was the collections manager, Mathew Lowe, who first realised the importance of the specimen.

“There are so many historical treasures in the collection, Liz did not realise this was a new discovery,” Mr Lowe told BBC News.

“To have rediscovered a Beagle specimen in the 200th year of Darwin’s birth is special enough, but to have evidence that Darwin himself broke it is a wonderful twist.”

Dr Mike Brooke, the museum’s curator of ornithology, traced the specimen’s origin in the notebook of Professor Alfred Newton, a friend of Darwin’s and a professor of zoology in the late 19th Century.

Newton had written: “One egg, received through Frank Darwin, having been sent to me by his father who said he got it at Maldonado (Uruguay) and that it belonged to the Common Tinamou of those parts.

“The great man put it into too small a box and hence its unhappy state.”

Now the best part:

Darwin himself mistook the bird for a partridge at first. And in his notebooks from 1833, he wrote that the bird had a “high shrill chirp” and that its flesh was “most delicately white” when cooked.

Mmm… yes. How I would love to travel the world, eating exotic birds!

To Caroline Darwin, 5 April 1832

My dear Caroline.—

Rio de Janeiro. April 5th.— I this morning received your letter of Decr 31 & Catherines of Feb 4th.— We lay to during last night, as the Captain was determined we should see the harbor of Rio & be ourselves seen in broard daylight.— The view is magnificent & will improve on acquaintance; it is at present rather too novel to behold Mountains as rugged as those of Wales, clothed in an evergreen vegetation, & the tops ornamented by the light form of the Palm.— The city, gaudy with its towers & Cathedrals is situated at the base of these hills, & command a vast bay, studded with men of war the flags of which bespeak every nation.— We came, in first rate style, alongside the Admirals ship, & we, to their astonishment, took in every inch of canvass & then immediately set it again: A sounding ship doing such a perfect mæneuovre with such certainty & rapidity, is an event hitherto unknown in that class.— It is a great satisfaction to know that we are in such beautiful order & discipline.—2 In the midst of our Tactics the bundle of letters arrived.— “Send them below,” thundered Wickham “every fool is looking at them & neglecting his duty” In about an hour I succeded in getting mine, the sun was bright & the view resplendent; our little ship was working like a fish; so I said to myself, I will only just look at the signatures:, it would not do; I sent wood & water, Palms & Cathedrals to old Nick & away I rushed below; there to feast over the thrilling enjoyment of reading about you all: at first the contrast of home, vividly brought before ones eyes, makes the present more exciting; but the feeling is soon divided & then absorbed by the wish of seeing those who make all associations dear.—

It is seldom that one individual has the power giving to another such a sum of pleasure, as you this day have granted me.— I know not whether the conviction of being loved, be more delightful or the corresponding one of loving in return.— I ought for I have experienced them both in excess.— With yours I received a letter from Charlotte, talking of parsonages in pretty countries & other celestial views.—I cannot fail to admire such a short sailor-like “splicing” match.—The style seems prevalent, Fanny seems to have done the business in a ride.—Well it may be all very delightful to those concerned, but as I like unmarried woman better than those in the blessed state, I vote it a bore: by the fates, at this pace I have no chance for the parsonage: I direct of course to you as Miss Darwin.— I own I am curious to know to whom I am writing.— Susan I suppose bears the honors of being Mrs J Price.— I want to write to Charlotte—& how & where to direct; I dont know: it positively is an inconvenient fashion this marrying: Maer wont be half the place it was, & as forWoodhouse, if Fanny was not perhaps at this time Mrs Biddulp, I would say poor dear Fanny till I fell to sleep.— I feel much inclined to philosophize but I am at a loss what to think or say; whilst really melting with tenderness I cry my dearest Fanny why I demand, should I distinctly see the sunny flower garden at Maer; on the other hand, but I find that my thought & feelings & sentences are in such a maze, that between crying & laughing I wish you all good night.—

This letter comes to us from The Beagle Letters

]]> http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2009/04/darwin-letter-friday-16/feed/ 0 http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2009/03/darwin-and-vegetables/ http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2009/03/darwin-and-vegetables/#comments Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:01:23 +0000 CambridgeBlog http://www.cambridgeblog.org/?p=1727 According to recent Cambridge University documents, Darwin loved his vegetables. So much so, that he paid more to his college dining hall to have them at meals.

Luckily, fresh vegetables today are inexpensive–a true luxury.

Read about it at BBC News >>

Who better to wish him a happy birthday than his own sister? There’s more family news [omitted] in the letter, but I was especially charmed by a middle-section about the only thing a certain young “Parky” remembers about uncle Charles.

Oh, and here’s a drawing of Darwin riding a beetle.

From Susan Darwin 12 February 1836

Shrewsbury
February 12th. 1836

My dear Charles,

It is always my fate to write to wish you joy upon your Birthday; but thank goodness this is the last I can do so, into foreign parts.— You are today 27— and I hope all the rest of your life you may spend very happily amongst us.—we often speculate whether you will have had sufficient travelling to serve you for life: & I think the Yes’s Yes’s generally carry it.— Our two last letters have been full of your fame & glory so I will say nothing about it except that I am as much delighted as any of them at your present success & future prospect of distinguishing yourself in Geology—

. . .

You will I know be very glad to hear that Marianne had a little Girl on the 31st. of Janry. which has made her excessively happy—she is a very nice little thing they say, & is to be called Mary Susan.— Parky is grown a famous fine lad and gets on capitally at school being now at the head of his class— he says the only thing he remembers of Uncle Charles, is his teaching him to say “Oh berry.”

. . .

I wish we could hope to see yr hand writing before May. I long for some account of the Galapageos for I never read any thing about those frying hot Islands. God bless you my dear Charley may I see yr dear face in 6 months time & Ever believe me | Yr very affecte | Granny | S E Darwin

Oh berry.

]]> http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2009/02/darwin-at-200/feed/ 0 http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2009/02/if-you-meet-darwin-by-the-road/ http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2009/02/if-you-meet-darwin-by-the-road/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:51:45 +0000 CambridgeBlog http://www.cambridgeblog.org/?p=1490 …kill him.

Today’s Science Times devotes itself to all things Darwin. His 200th birthday is 2 days away!

My personal favorite, Carl Safina’s essay entitled Darwinism Must Die So That Evolution May Live takes a stab at bursting the bubble of the cult of Darwin.

We don’t call astronomy Copernicism, nor gravity Newtonism. “Darwinism” implies an ideology adhering to one man’s dictates, like Marxism. And “isms” (capitalism, Catholicism, racism) are not science. “Darwinism” implies that biological scientists “believe in” Darwin’s “theory.” It’s as if, since 1860, scientists have just ditto-headed Darwin rather than challenging and testing his ideas, or adding vast new knowledge.

And as Safina points out, we have. Evolutionary biology has advanced through genetics, developmental biology, and plain observation; through scientists testing and applying Darwin’s theories, not by repeating them over and over (like, say, a religious cult).

But the article also owes up to the rest of Darwin’s legacy — the one that we usually forget about, and something I’ve noticed when reading his correspondence.

In 1859, Darwin’s perception and evidence became “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.” Few realize he published 8 books before and 10 books after “Origin.” He wrote seminal books on orchids, insects, barnacles and corals. He figured out how atolls form, and why they’re tropical.

Credit Darwin’s towering genius. No mind ran so freely, so widely or so freshly over the hills and vales of existence. But there’s a limit to how much credit is reasonable. Parking evolution with Charles Darwin overlooks the limits of his time and all subsequent progress.

Weekend Edition Sunday sent a correspondent to the Sedgwick Museum, where they’ll be digging deep into Darwin’s own specimen and fossil collection, and the Cambridge University Library, where they’ve interviewed our own Alison Pearn, of the Darwin Correspondence Project. Pearn edits and maintains the original notebooks and correspondence that Darwin kept on his journeys and throughout his research. Our recently published Beagle Letters, Origins, and Evolution come from this project.

Listen to the NPR introductory segment >>

There’s more segments to come; tune in!

To William Darwin Fox [9–12 August] 1835

Lima
July,1 1835

My dear Fox,

I have lately received two of your letters, one dated June2 & the other November 1834. (—They reached me however in an inverted order;—) I was very glad to receive a history of this the most important year in your life. Previously I had only heard the plain fact, that you were married.— You are a true Christian & return good for evil.—to send two such letters to so bad a Correspondent, as I have been. God bless you for writing so kindly & affectionately; if it is a pleasure to have friends in England, it is doubly so, to think & know that one is not forgotten, because absent.—

This voyage is terribly long.— I do so earnestly desire to return, yet I dare hardly look forward to the future, for I do not know what will become of me.— Your situation is above envy; I do not venture even to frame such happy visions.— To a person fit to take the office, the life of a Clergyman is a type of all that is respectable & happy: & if he is a Naturalist & has the “Diamond Beetle”, ave Maria; I do not know what to say.— You tempt me by talking of your fireside, whereas it is a sort of scene I never ought to think about—I saw the other day a vessel sail for England, it was quite dangerous to know, how easily I might turn deserter. As for an English lady, I have almost forgotten what she is.—something very angelic & good. As for the women in these countries they wear Caps & petticoats & a very few have pretty faces & then all is said.—

But if we are not wrecked on some unlucky reef, I will sit by that same fireside in Vale Cottage & tell some of the wonderful stories, which you seem to anticipate & I presume are not very ready to believe. Gracias a dios, the prospect of such times is rather shorter than formerly.—

From this most wretched “city of the Kings” we sail in a fortnight, from thence to Guyaquil — Galapagos — Marquesas — Society Isd., &c &c.—4 I look forward to the Galapagos, with more interest than any other part of the voyage.— They abound with active Volcanoes & I should hope contain Tertiary strata.— I am glad to hear you have some thoughts of beginning geology.— I hope you will, there is so much larger a field for thought, than in the other branches of Nat: History.— I am become a zealous disciple of Mr Lyells views, as known in his admirable book.— Geologizing in S. America, I am tempted to carry parts to a greater extent, even than he does. Geology is a capital science to begin, as it requires nothing but a little reading, thinking & hammering.— I have a considerable body of notes together; but it is a constant subject of perplexity to me, whether they are of sufficient value, for all the time I have spent about them, or whether animals would not have been of more certain value.—

I have lately had a long ride from Valparaiso to Copiapò; in the Northern half the country is frightfully desert, & the sole source of interest was in the Geology. The scarcity of fossil shells is very inconvenient, as it will render any comparison of the formations with those of Europe nearly impossible. The Andes, at the period when Ammonites lived, (which corresponds to the secondary rocks) must have been chain of Volcanic Islands, from which copious streams of lava were poured forth & subsequently covered with Conglomerates. Such beds form the Cordilleras of Chili.—

For the last months I have been shamefully negligent of all branches of Zoology; I hope to make up a little in the Pacifick; but all our future visits will indeed be flying ones.— The Captain talks about arriving in England September year. I doubt the possibility; but Heaven grant it may not be much after.— Will you write to me once again, soon after receiving this & direct to the C. of Good Hope, & in answer to it you will see me in Person; Till that joyful day arrives, I must wish you a long Farewell. I shall indeed be glad once again to see you & tell you how grateful I feel for your steady friendship.—God bless you. My very dear Fox.

Believe me, | Yours affectionately | Chas. Darwin—

As it is today, publishing in 1836 was a tricky prospect.

To Caroline Darwin 29 April 1836

Port Lewis, Mauritius.
April 29th. 1836.

My dear Caroline,

We arrived here this morning; as a Ship sails for England tomorrow, I will not let escape the opportunity of writing. But as I am both tired & stupid, my letter will be equally dull. I wrote from Sydney & Hobart town, after leaving the latter place, we proceeded to King Georges Sound. I did not feel much affection for any part of Australia; & certainly, nothing could be better adapted, than our last visit, to put the finishing stroke to such feelings.—

We then proceeded to the Keeling Isds.— These are low lagoon Isds. about 500 miles from the coast of Sumatra.— I am very glad we called there, as it has been our only opportunity of seeing one of those wonderful productions of the Coral polypi.— The subject of Coral formation has for the last half year, been a point of particular interest to me. I hope to be able to put some of the facts in a more simple & connected point of view, than that in which they have hitherto been considered. The idea of a lagoon Island, 30 miles in diameter being based on a submarine crater of equal dimensions,2 has alway appeared to me a monstrous hypothesis.

From the Keeling Id we came direct to this place. All which we have yet seen is very pleasing. The scenery cannot boast of the charms of Tahiti & still less of the grand luxuriance of Brazil; but yet it is a complete & very beautiful picture. But, there is no country which has now any attractions for us, without it is seen right astern, & the more distant & indistinct the better. We are all utterly home sick; I feel sure there is a wide difference between leaving one’s home to reside for five years in some foreign country, & in wandering for the same time. There is nothing, which I so much long for, as to see any spot & any object, which I have seen before & can say I will see again.— Our heads are giddy, with such a constant whirl. The Capt, continues to push along with a slack rein & an armed heel.— thank Heaven not an hour has lately been lost, or will again be lost.

It is probable, if we escape the heavy gales off the Cape, we may reach England 8 weeks after you receive this letter. Our course beyond the Cape & St Helena is not certain; I think it will end in touching at Bahia on the coast of Brazil. With what different sensations I shall now view that splendid scene, from formerly. Then I thought an hour of such existence would have been cheaply purchased with an year of ordinary life, but now one glimpse of my dear home, would be better than the united kingdoms, of all the glorious Tropics. Whilst we are at sea, & the weather is fine, my time passes smoothly, because I am very busy. My occupation consists in rearranging old geological notes: the rearranging generally consists in totally rewriting them. I am just now beginning to discover the difficulty of expressing one’s ideas on paper. As long as it consists solely of description it is pretty easy; but where reasoning comes into play, to make a proper connection, a clearness & a moderate fluency, is to me, as I have said, a difficulty of which I had no idea.—

. . .

The Captain is daily becoming a happier man, he now looks forward with cheerfulness to the work which is before him. He, like myself, is busy all day in writing, but instead of geology, it is the account of the Voyage. I sometimes fear his “Book” will be rather diffuse, but in most other respects it certainly will be good: his style is very simple & excellent. He has proposed to me, to join him in publishing the account, that is, for him to have the disposal & arranging of my journal & to mingle it with his own. Of course I have said I am perfectly willing, if he wants materials; or thinks the chit-chat details of my journal are any ways worth publishing. He has read over the part, I have on board, & likes it.—

I shall be anxious to hear your opinions, for it is a most dangerous task, in these days, to publish accounts of parts of the world, which have so frequently been visited. It is a rare piece of good fortune for me, that of the many errant (in ships) Naturalists, there have been few or rather no geologists. I shall enter the field unopposed.— I assure you I look forward with no little anxiety to the time when Henslow, putting on a grave face, shall decide on the merits of my notes. If he shakes his head in a disapproving manner: I shall then know that I had better at once give up science, for science will have given up me.— For I have worked with every grain of energy I possess.— But what a horridly egotistical letter, I am writing; I am so tired, that nothing short of the pleasant stimulus of vanity & writing about one’s own dear self would have sufficed.— I have the excuse, if I write about my self, Heaven knows I think enough about all of you.—

We shall leave this Isld. in 6 days time; if there is any opportunity, I will write from the C. of Good Hope & that letter possibly may be the last you will receive, before you see me arrive, converted into an ancient, brown-colored Gentleman. The minute the Ship drops her anchor in the mud of old England, I will start for Shrewsbury.— I trust we shall find letters at the Cape; but I have many fears; the date of the last letter I received was 13 months ago: This is a grievous period, to be entirely ignorant, about all, one care’s most for.—It is probable we shall arrive early in September; you must recollect the possibility of my not having received letters for 18 months, so retell me any thing important; if I do not come by the 14th of Septemb. write again to Plymouth post-office. So that when, I start for home—I may travel with a certain mind.

God bless you all. May you be well & happy. Forgive such a letter; I am sure, you would sooner have it, than nothing.— So once again farewell to you all.— give my most affectionate love to my Father & all | My dearest Caroline | Your affectionate brother | Chas. Darwin.

Dig the smoldering crater.

Here at Cambridge, when we hear “Galapagos,” we think Darwin. Many people do. But he didn’t catalog all of the strange creatures there. 150 years after Darwin’s visit the islands, scientists have discovered a new, pink iguana that dwells on a single volcano.

Bloomberg story >>

Don’t fret, Charles, it’s not your fault that you didn’t find it on your visit.

“We were surprised,” the scientist said. “It’s not very surprising Darwin missed this form — because he didn’t visit Volcan Wolf. What is more surprising is that other scientists missed this form over the last century.”

The iguana is found only in a single volcano! The geologist in Darwin was excited about the volcanic makeup of the islands, though. In July, 1835, during his Beagle voyage, he writes his 2nd cousin William Darwin Fox:

From this most wretched “city of the Kings” [Lima] we sail in a fortnight, from thence to Guyaquil-Galapagos-Marquesas-Society Isd., &c &c.- I look forward to the Galapagos, with more interest than any other part of the voyage.- They abound with active Volcanoes5 & I should hope contain Tertiary strata.- I am glad to hear you have some thoughts of beginning geology.— I hope you will, there is so much larger a field for thought, than in the other branches of Nat: History.— I am become a zealous disciple of Mr Lyells views, as known in his admirable book.— Geologizing in S. America, I am tempted to carry parts to a greater extent, even than he does. Geology is a capital science to begin, as it requires nothing but a little reading, thinking & hammering.

Reading, thinking & hammering? Perhaps I’m in the wrong profession.

]]> http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2009/01/galapagos-pink-iguana-discovered/feed/ 0 http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2008/12/darwin-letter-friday-14/ http://www.cambridgeblog.org/2008/12/darwin-letter-friday-14/#comments Fri, 26 Dec 2008 19:51:02 +0000 CambridgeBlog http://www.cambridgeblog.org/?p=1445 I love this letter. It’s a very cool peek into colonial Australia (Tasmania, really) through the eyes of Charles Darwin, of all people.

Darwin is amazed that the level of social refinement in Hobart Town. There are fancy balls, all attended to by convicts. Beautiful furnishings, stately homes — it’s the perfect place, Darwin says, for a poor English gentleman to emigrate.

To Catherine Darwin 14 February 1836

Hobart Town. Van Diemen’s Land
February 14th.— 1836.

My dear Catherine

I am determined to begin a letter to you, although I am sadly puzzled, as you may see by the length of the date, to know what to write about. I presume you will have received, some few days before this, my letter from Sydney.— We arrived here after a six days passage, & have now been here 10.— Tomorrow morning we Sail for King George Sound.—1800 miles of most Stormy Sea.— Heaven protect & fortify my poor Stomach.—All on board like this place better than Sydney— the uncultivated parts here have the same aspect as there; but from the climate being damper, the Gardens, full of luxuriant vegetables & fine corn fields, delightfully resemble England.—

To a person not particularly attached to any particular kind, (such as literary, scientific &c,) of society, & bringing out his family, it is a most admirable place of emigration. With care & a very small capital, he is sure soon to gain a competence, & may, if he likes, die Wealthy.— No doubt in New S. Wales, a man will sooner be possessed of an income of thousands per annum. But I do not think he would be a gainer in comfort.— There is a better class of Society. Here, there are no Convicts driving in their carriages, & revelling in Wealth.— Really the system of emigration is excellent for poor Gentleman.— You would be astonished to know what pleasant society there is here. I dined yesterday at the Attorneys General, where, amongst a small party of his most intimate friends he got up an excellent concert of first rate Italian Music. The house large, beautifully furnished; dinner most elegant with respectable! (although of course all Convicts) Servants.— A Short time before, they gave a fancy Ball,at which 113 people were present..— At another very pleasant house, where I dined, they told me, at their last dancing party, 96 was the number.— Is not this astonishing in so remote a part of the world?—

It is necessary to leave England, & see distant Colonies, of various nations, to know what wonderful people the English are.— It is rather an interesting feature in our Voyage, seeing so many of the distant English Colonies.— Falklands Island, (the lowest in the scale), 3 parts of Australia: Isd of France, the Cape.—St Helena, & Ascencion— My reason tells me, I ought to enjoy all this; but I confess I never see a Merchant vessel start for England, without a most dangerous inclination to bolt.— It is a most true & grievous fact, that the last four months appear to me as long, as the two previous years, at which rate I have yet to remain out four years longer.— There never was a Ship, so full of home-sick heroes, as the Beagle.— We ought all to be ashamed of ourselves: What is five years, compared to the Soldier’s & Civilian’s, whom I most heartily pity, life in India?— If a person is obliged to leave friends & country, he had much better come out to these countries & turn farmer. He will not then return home, on half pay, & with a pallid face.—Several of our Officers are seriously considering the all important subject, which sounds from one end of the Colony to the other, of Wool. My Father will be glad to hear, that my prophetic warning in my last letter, has turned out false.— Not making any expedition, I have not required any money.—

Give my love to my dear Father I often think of his kindness to me in allowing me to come this voyage—indeed, in what part of my life can I think otherwise.—

Good bye my dear Katty. I have nothing worth writing about, as you may see,— Thank Heaven, it is an unquestioned fact that months weeks & days will pass away, although they may travel like most arrant Sluggards. If we all live, we shall meet in Autumn. | Your affectionate Brother | Charles Darwin.—