of Research after Origin of Species:
1859 November 22
"Origin of Species" went on sale to the public today at a price
of 15 shillings. 1,250 copies were printed, most of which sold
the first day. It was an immediate success and Darwin started
the same day editing the work for a second edition.
1859 December 9
Darwin returned to Down House from Ilkley Spa.
1859 December 9
John Murray started making arrangements to print a 2nd edition
of "Origin of Species", this time 3,000 copies. Also, a German
translation was in the works.
1859 late December
Lord Palmerston proposed to Queen Victoria that Charles Darwin
should be conferred a knighthood. The proposal was abandoned,
however, when Bishop
Wilberforce intervened to stop the idea.
The repercussions of Origin of Species were mixed. Thomas
Huxley and Joseph
Hooker thought very highly of it and soon became stronger
allies with Darwin. Huxley soon became a ruthless defender of
evolution, even going so far as to suggest that mankind was
a transmuted ape! Richard
Owen was outraged by the Origin. He saw the ideas expressed
in the book as being dangerous to society. He also thought the
book left too many unanswered questions, and worst of all it
leaned natural science away from its respectable position as
an investigator of god's creation. Most readers, however, simply
did not understand how natural selection worked. They could
not see who or what was doing the selecting. Many assumed god
was the selector.
The term "Darwinism" was coined by Thomas Huxley in the Westminster
1860 June 30
Professor William Draper of New York University gave a talk
at a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement
of Science. The meeting took place at Oxford University's Museum
Library, and Draper's topic was the influence of Darwinian theory
on social progress. Revd.
John Stevens Henslow was the presiding president during
this meeting. Apparently the talk was only mildly interesting,
but most of the 700 to 1,000 people in attendance stayed to
the end because they wanted to hear Bishop
Wilberforce respond to the talk, and since Huxley was there
as well, a lively debate on evolution was sure to follow. After
Draper finished his talk, Wilberforce stood and gave his thirty
minute rebuttal by way of attacking "Origin of Species" every
way he knew how, and by verbally attacking Thomas
Huxley. Although Huxley fought back admirably, he was not
able to hold the audience. At some time during the debate, an
elderly gentleman stood up, holding a bible overhead, and pleaded
with the audience to follow god's word. It was Robert
Hooker, who had reluctantly attended the meeting, eventually
stood before the audience and tore into Wilberforce. He accused
him of never having read "Origin of Species" and said Wilberforce
knew nothing what-so-ever about the botanical sciences. Although
it is commonly believed that the debate was only between Wilberforce,
Huxley, and Hooker, many other people spoke out in defense of
the church or in support of evolution. The debate lasted about
four hours, most of which, it seems, consisted of each side
attacking the views of the other. There was much commotion in
the audience (one lady even fainted!), and in the end both sides
claimed they had won the day. Darwin was not able to attend
the meeting, as he was quite ill and was at the time taking
the water cure at Sudbrook Park in the village of Richmond,
The journal, Natural History Review, was bought by Huxley
and other naturalists partial to evolutionary thinking. The
journal was used as a voice for Darwin supporters. The first
issue had an article by Huxley which described man's relationship
to the apes. He sent a complementary copy to Bishop Wilberforce,
just for fun. Over the next few months Huxley gave lectures
to the poor working classes on the evolution of man from lowly
apes. Such sermons appealed to the working class, as the idea
of man being a nobel creature made their meager existence seem
less harsh. Huxley was also getting into lively arguments with
Richard Owen over
man's descent from an ape-like ancestor.
1861 May 18
Darwin's old friend and mentor, Revd.
John Stevens Henslow, died of heart disease. Darwin could
not bring himself to visit Henslow at his death bed because
he was quite ill himself. On a happier note, by now many naturalists
in Britain were writing papers on the great antiquity of man.
Even Lyell was doing field work on man's antiquity - searching
for their fossil remains in the English countryside.
Darwin took a break from writing his book on animal domestication
and went on holiday with his daughter, Henrietta, to Torquay
on the Devon coast. While there he spent many an hour examining
the way insects pollinate orchids in the fields around the town.
He noticed that only certain insects pollinate one particular
orchid variety. When he returned to Down House he immediately
switched from breeding pigeons to raising orchids. During the
Victorian era, orchids were all the rage, and as soon as word
got out that Darwin was raising them he found himself being
flooded with specimens from all over the country. What he set
out to do was study how orchids used intricate petal designs
to attract bees and moths to their pollen. How did such a relationship
evolve? The subject fascinated him! Writing a book on the subject
was too much for Darwin to resist.
Darwin made arrangements with John
Murray to publish his orchid book next year. By this time,
German, Dutch and French translations of Origin of Species were
in the works. As the work on orchids piled up, Darwin became
much more ill and his research ground to a near halt. Huxley
continued his lecture circuit, and during this time he was heading
for that stronghold of the church, Edinburugh, Scotland. He
gave a speech there on the evolution of mankind from a species
of ancestral ape. Much to his surprise, his lecture was met
with great enthusiasm; some people in the audience even cheered!
When Darwin heard the news he was overcome with joy.
1862 May 15
The Orchid book was published today. The full title was : "On
the Various Contrivances by which British and Foreign Orchids
and fertilized by Insects."
1862 late May
Alfred Wallace finally
returned from his travels in the Far East. He came back with
haul of 125,000 specimens after six years of travels.
Huxley's book: "Man's Place in Nature" was published. It was
a compilation of his lectures on humans, apes and evolution,
and it infuriated the church. As a counterattack to Huxley,
Owen advocated what
he called a "Special Creative Energy" which initiated the spontaneous
formation of new species from existing ones. Huxley challenged
Owen to answer the question - "Was man spontaneously created
from an ape?" Owen's reply was that man's creation was preordained
by god, and where man came from was of no importance. It should
be noted that Owen was not against the idea of one species changing
into another, only that he did not think naturalistic evolution
was the agent of change. It was not long before the followers
of Darwinian evolution saw Owen as an outcast among the scientific
Darwin spent the summer quietly working with his orchids, seeds,
dissecting animals, and examining their skeletons. Orchids now
became his passion and during the summer he had a greenhouse
built at the house for his growing collection.
A lizard-bird fossil was discovered in Solenhofen, Germany,
and Richard Owen arranged to buy it for the British Museum.
During a speech to the Royal Society, Owen dubbed the fossil
"Archaeopteryx." Upon further examination it was found that
the Archaeopteryx fossil, while at first looking like a bird,
had many features found only in lizards (teeth, a bony tail,
etc.). The lack of fossil evidence for species transmutation
concerned Darwin a great deal, but he figured that transitional
fossils would eventually be found and the Archaeopteryx fossil
fit the bill quite nicely.
book, "Antiquity of Man" was published. In this book Lyell advocated
the ancient origin of mankind, but never specifically came out
in support of evolution. It was obvious that Lyell was still
living in the old scientific school and was having a difficult
time adjusting to the new school of free-thinking evolutionists.
While reading Lyell's book, "Antiquity of Man," Darwin's health
became much worse. At the behest of his wife, Emma, he returned
to Malvern Spa for the water cure. Darwin could not bring himself
to visit Annie's grave, but Emma went for a look - the spot
being overgrown with bushes.
An Italian translation of Origins was completed.
1864 September 13
Darwin's 118 page treatise: "The Movement and Habits of Climbing
Plants" was published by the Linnean Society.
1864 November 3
The "X Club" was founded.
During this time the church was moving quickly to shore up their
defenses of biblical creation and the fixation of species. Radical
naturalists, and those already in the transmutation camp, joined
forces to counter the church move. They met at the St. George
Hotel in London and formed a dining club they called the "X-club."
Their purpose was to meet and discuss pure science without the
intrusion of the church or any religious views. They met on
the first Thursday of every month. The club existed from November
1864 to 1892. Many members of the club had power inside the
Royal Society of London.
The nine members of the X-Club were --
Joseph Hooker -
Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1865.
Thomas Huxley -
Professor of natural history at the Government School of Mines
- Owner of Eyre and Spottiswoode; the Queen's printers.
Edward Frankland - Professor of chemistry at the Royal Institution.
John Tyndall - Professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal
George Busk - Retired
surgeon for the British Navy. Major contributor to many scientific
Sir John Lubbock - Knighted in 1865. Had wealth and influence
in London society.
Thomas Hirst - Professor of Mathematics at University College,
- Not very active in the X-Club. He lived off inheritance from
his family and book royalties.
1864 November 30
Darwin was awarded the Copley Medal; the highest honor bestowed
by the Royal Society. Busk and Falconer, both members of the
X-Club, nominated him. Awarding the Copley Medal to Darwin caused
much anger among the older Fellows of the Society, most of whom
wanted Adam Sedgwick
to get the award. It was agreed upon to give Darwin the medal,
but only if it was explicitly stated that his "Origin of Species"
book was not a contributing factor in their decision. Awarding
the Copley Medal to Darwin was a sign of how influential the
X-Club had become in Royal Society politics. Darwin was naturally
very pleased. As was suspected, the Church of England was not
at all happy with this turn of events.
Darwin was very ill again, but tried hard to work on his animal
1865 April 30
Admiral Robert FitzRoy
commited suicide on this day. His views on meteorological forecasting
were being criticized, and he was passed over for the position
of Chief Naval Officer of the Marine Department. Unable to handle
such a rejection, he fell into one of his bouts of depression
and slit his throat.
1866 April 27
Having had a mild recovery from his illness, Darwin felt well
enough to visit London and attend the April meeting of the Royal
Society. He was sporting a long white beard, and even his friends
do not recognize him.
The phrase, "Survival of the fittest," was coined by Herbert
Spencer in his two volume book: "Principles of Biology."
It became a substitute for the phrase, "Natural Selection",
which led people to think selection required a selector (i.e.
German naturalist, Ernst
Haeckel, paid a visit to Down House. Haeckel had become
the professor of comparative anatomy at the University of Jena
and was an avid supporter of evolution in his country. He and
Darwin had an interesting meeting, waving their arms about and
using makeshift sign language in a struggle to communicate.
Despite communication problems, however, they got along splendidly.
He was a very loud speaking gentleman and Emma could not stand
to be in the same room with him.
The Mount, Darwin's childhood home, was sold. The building still
stands today, although it is now occupied by the "District Valuer
and Valuation Officer, Shrewsbury."
Darwin spent his time writing his book on sexual selection in
which he discussed man's ancient origins for the first time.
By now the book had grown into a huge volume of nearly one-thousand
pages and he feared the section on man's origins would become
lost in the immensity of the text. Therefore, he decided to
have the book published in two parts - "Descent of Man" and
"Selection in Relation to Sex."
1867 August 21
The Darwin family returned to Down House after a six week holiday
on the Isle of Wight.
1867 late Summer
By now Darwin's theory of evolution was established in most
1867 middle of September
Asa Gray and his
wife came to England to visit Darwin at Down House.
1868 January 30
After much editing, "The Variations of Animals and Plants under
Domestication" was finally published. It was a beautiful portrayal
of just how malleable species can be.
1869 February 10
A 5th edition of Origin of Species was published.
While out riding, Darwin was thrown by "Tommy," his horse. His
riding days were now over.
Thomas Huxley coined
the term "Agnostic."
1869 June 10
The Darwin family went on holiday to North Wales, and along
the way they visited The Mount for the last time.
1869 November 4
The journal "Nature" was founded by Joseph
Hooker and Thomas Huxley as a voice for the X-Club. 130
years later the journal "Nature" is one of the most popular
and well respected science journals in the world.
1870 middle of May
Darwin and Emma spent a restful holiday at Cambridge where they
attended Frank's graduation from college with a maths degree.
While there Darwin met up with his old friend, Adam
Sedgwick, who was delighted to see him. After much conversation
Sedgwick took Darwin on a grand tour of the Woodwardian Museum,
which sported an excellent collection of geological specimens
1871 January 15
Proofs of "Descent of Man" were edited and sent to John Murray.
1871 January 22
George Mivart, a
self taught zoologist and anti-evolutionist, brought up the
"half a wing is useless" argument against natural selection.
This argument was presented in his book: "On the Genesis of
Species." The book was essentially a tactical strike against
the theory of natural selection. The major argument Mivart presented
was one against transitional forms. For example, if a species
of lizard was on the road to evolving the ability of flight,
what good would half a wing do for the lizard? Since an animal
cannot fly with half a wing it was folly to imagine a long series
of transitional steps towards flight. Darwin became quite upset
with Mivart, not because of his objections to his theory, but
because of the venomous manner in which Mivart put forth his
objections and his attacks on Darwin's colleagues.