HKB
60 passages · search this phrase →
Often appears with: species, variation, and descent · geography and the description of places · fate, destiny, and necessity · weather, storms, and the seasons · famine, scarcity, and plenty · plants and cultivation · perception and the senses · courage and cowardice · medicine, disease, and healing · the passions and the emotions · experiment, observation, and evidence · trade, markets, and merchants
Usually: curiosity (245) · argument (141) · narrative (109) · detachment (72) · wonder (51) · skepticism (46) · description (45) · reflection (26) · commentary or gloss (21) · confronting death (16)
“For some time after the rest of the animal was completely dead from the effects of salt water or any other cause, this organ still retained its vitality.” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · observation
“Hence we can perceive in the fact of the cuckoo pairing several times, and laying her eggs at intervals, the cause of her depositing her eggs in other birds' nests, and leaving them to the care of foster-parents.” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · insight
“Animals are so abundant in these countries, that humanity and self-interest are not closely united; therefore I fear it is that the former is here scarcely known.” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · insight
“From these several facts we may, I think, conclude, first, that the wildness of birds with regard to man, is a particular instinct directed against him, and not dependent upon any general degree of caution arising from other sources of danger; secondly, that it is not acquired by individual birds in a short time, even when much persecuted; but that in the course of successive generations it becomes hereditary.” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · insight
“Although no one has a right to speculate without distinct facts, yet even with respect to the Chatham Island mouse, it should be borne in mind, that it may possibly be an American species imported here.” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · insight
“May this difference not be caused, by the greater facility with which the eggs of lizards, protected by calcareous shells might be transported through salt-water, than could the slimy spawn of frogs?” Charles Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle · insight
“Owing to this struggle for life, any variation, however slight and from whatever cause proceeding, if it be in any degree profitable to an individual of any species, in its infinitely complex relations to other organic beings and to external nature, will tend to the preservation of that individual, and will generally be inherited by its offspring.” Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selecti · insight
“In some cases it can be shown that widely-different checks act on the same species in different districts.” Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selecti · observation
“maternal love or maternal hatred, though the latter fortunately is most rare, is all the same to the inexorable principle of natural selection.” Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selecti · insight
“I removed all the ants from a group of about a dozen aphides on a dock-plant, and prevented their attendance during several hours.” Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selecti · observation
“It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank, clothed with many plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different from each other, and dependent on each other in so complex a manner, have all been produced by laws acting around us.” Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selecti · vivid
“WIT lying most in the assemblage of ideas, and putting those together with quickness and variety, wherein can be found any resemblance or congruity, thereby to make up pleasant pictures and agreeable visions in the fancy; JUDGMENT, on the contrary, lies quite on the other side, in separating carefully, one from another, ideas wherein can be found the least difference, thereby to avoid being misled by similitude, and by affinity to take one thing for another.” John Locke, An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 1 · insight
Eumaeus and Ulysses prepare a pig sacrifice for the gods, portion the meat according to ritual shares including one for Mercury and nymphs, and eat together as hospitality becomes an enacted religious duty.
him for this stranger, and we will take toll of him ourselves. We have had trouble enough this long time feeding pigs, while others reap the fruit of our labour.” On this he began chopping firewood, while the others brought in a fine fat five year old boar pig, and set it at the altar. Eumaeus did not forget the gods, for he was a man of good principles, so the first thing he did was to cut bristles from the pig’s f…
During departure from Lacedaemon, Telemachus and Pisistratus dine, sacrifice with a pledge of a golden goblet, interpret an eagle-and-goose omen as a sign for Odysseus’s return, and travel toward Pylos.
wear upon her wedding day. Till then, get your dear mother to keep it for you; thus may you go back rejoicing to your own country and to your home.” So saying she gave the robe over to him and he received it gladly. Then Pisistratus put the presents into the chariot, and admired them all as he did so. Presently Menelaus took Telemachus and Pisistratus into the house, and they both of them sat down to table. A maid s…
Odysseus escapes the Cyclops Polyphemus by binding three rams together so his men ride beneath them, clinging under the best ram until dawn when Polyphemus checks the flock and sends it out.
handling thee in thy solitude, it can in no wise be that thou shouldest escape the sickness sent by mighty Zeus. Nay, pray thou to thy father, the lord Poseidon.’ “On this wise they spake and departed; and my heart within me laughed to see how my name and cunning counsel had beguiled them. But the Cyclops, groaning and travailing in pain, groped with his hands, and lifted away the stone from the door of the cave, an…
He explains how human perception of small novelties, large breeding populations, careful breeding attention, and practices like enclosure and selective mating enable the formation and stabilization of new domestic breeds.
more than the turbit now does the upper part of its oesophagus,—a habit which is disregarded by all fanciers, as it is not one of the points of the breed. Nor let it be thought that some great deviation of structure would be necessary to catch the fancier’s eye: he perceives extremely small differences, and it is in human nature to value any novelty, however slight, in one’s own possession. Nor must the value which …
Darwin introduces struggle for existence as the foundation for natural selection, explaining that useful variations are preserved because only a few individuals survive and reproduce amid universal competition.
STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. Bears on natural selection. The term used in a wide sense. Geometrical powers of increase. Rapid increase of naturalised animals and plants. Nature of the checks to increase. Competition universal. Effects of climate. Protection from the number of individuals. Complex relations of all animals and plants throughout nature. Struggle for life most severe between individuals and varieties of the …
He describes how subtle reductions in checks cause rapid increases, likening nature to wedges driven inward, and notes that the strongest checks are often obscure and vary by life stage and enemies.
the geometrical ratio of increase, the result of which never fails to be surprising, simply explains the extraordinarily rapid increase and wide diffusion of naturalised productions in their new homes. In a state of nature almost every plant produces seed, and amongst animals there are very few which do not annually pair. Hence we may confidently assert, that all plants and animals are tending to increase at a geome…
He adds that cattle can determine Scotch fir survival in Staffordshire, but in places like Paraguay a fly limits feral herbivores, with insectivorous birds regulating the whole cascading system of interdependence.
effects of frequent intercrossing, and the ill effects of close interbreeding, probably come into play in some of these cases; but on this intricate subject I will not here enlarge. Many cases are on record showing how complex and unexpected are the checks and relations between organic beings, which have to struggle together in the same country. I will give only a single instance, which, though a simple one, has int…
Darwin closes the section by claiming English plant reproduction depends on specialized insects—moths, humble-bees, and field mice—and that cats could indirectly shape flower frequency through these chains.
firs. Yet the heath was so extremely barren and so extensive that no one would ever have imagined that cattle would have so closely and effectually searched it for food. Here we see that cattle absolutely determine the existence of the Scotch fir; but in several parts of the world insects determine the existence of cattle. Perhaps Paraguay offers the most curious instance of this; for here neither cattle nor horses …
Darwin argues that numerous ecological checks acting at different times determine species survival, using examples of plant competition, insect predation, and how closely related individuals often outcompete each other.
of a feline animal in large numbers in a district might determine, through the intervention first of mice and then of bees, the frequency of certain flowers in that district! In the case of every species, many different checks, acting at different periods of life, and during different seasons or years, probably come into play; some one check or some few being generally the most potent, but all concurring in determin…
Darwin illustrates natural selection with imagined wolf scenarios and real differences among cats’ hunting tendencies, then describes how plants’ nectar and insects’ pollination could favor cross-fertilization and nectar traits.
his greyhounds by careful and methodical selection, or by that unconscious selection which results from each man trying to keep the best dogs without any thought of modifying the breed. Even without any change in the proportional numbers of the animals on which our wolf preyed, a cub might be born with an innate tendency to pursue certain kinds of prey. Nor can this be thought very improbable; for we often observe g…
Using an imaginary coevolution, Darwin explains how increased nectar rewards and small changes in insect feeding anatomy can favor tighter plant–bee mutual adaptation and lead to reciprocal modifications.
the division of labour, individuals with this tendency more and more increased, would be continually favoured or selected, until at last a complete separation of the sexes would be effected. Let us now turn to the nectar-feeding insects in our imaginary case: we may suppose the plant of which we have been slowly increasing the nectar by continued selection, to be a common plant; and that certain insects depended in …
Darwin explains that diversification lets descendants of a lineage exploit new prey, habitats, and diets, and he generalizes with grass and wheat experiments, plus small-area ecology where intense competition favors diverse forms.
habits, by so much will they be better enabled to seize on many and widely diversified places in the polity of nature, and so be enabled to increase in numbers. We can clearly see this in the case of animals with simple habits. Take the case of a carnivorous quadruped, of which the number that can be supported in any country has long ago arrived at its full average. If its natural powers of increase be allowed to ac…
He treats reduced eyes in cave animals as consequences of disuse, noting blind cave fauna in Styria and Kentucky, and contrasting cases where enlarged eyes suggest mixed effects with natural selection.
the adhesion of the eyelids and growth of fur over them, might in such case be an advantage; and if so, natural selection would constantly aid the effects of disuse. It is well known that several animals, belonging to the most different classes, which inhabit the caves of Styria and of Kentucky, are blind. In some of the crabs the foot-stalk for the eye remains, though the eye is gone; the stand for the telescope is…
Darwin presents striped ass and horse cases—spinal, leg, and shoulder bars—across breeds, India, and beyond, treating these repeated stripe patterns as likely reversion tied to inheritance.
before, I lie under a great disadvantage in not being able to give them. I can only repeat that such cases certainly do occur, and seem to me very remarkable. I will, however, give one curious and complex case, not indeed as affecting any important character, but from occurring in several species of the same genus, partly under domestication and partly under nature. It is a case apparently of reversion. The ass not …
He adds evidence from hybrids, claiming that mules and ass–zebra and ass–hemionus hybrids often show stronger leg bars and shoulder stripes, supporting a genetic tendency toward ancestral striping.
occur far oftenest in duns and mouse-duns; by the term dun a large range of colour is included, from one between brown and black to a close approach to cream-colour. I am aware that Colonel Hamilton Smith, who has written on this subject, believes that the several breeds of the horse have descended from several aboriginal species—one of which, the dun, was striped; and that the above-described appearances are all du…
Darwin answers opponents’ transition objections by pointing to transitional habits and structures within genera, using mustelids, squirrels, and the flying lemur as examples of gradual modification.
And it seems to me that nothing less than a long list of such cases is sufficient to lessen the difficulty in any particular case like that of the bat. Look at the family of squirrels; here we have the finest gradation from animals with their tails only slightly flattened, and from others, as Sir J. Richardson has remarked, with the posterior part of their bodies rather wide and with the skin on their flanks rather …
Darwin presents numerous cases of anomalous adaptations—like woodpeckers that don’t climb and water-diving thrushes—to show how changed habits can accompany modified structures, sometimes slowly.
bears being rendered, by natural selection, more and more aquatic in their structure and habits, with larger and larger mouths, till a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale. As we sometimes see individuals of a species following habits widely different from those both of their own species and of the other species of the same genus, we might expect, on my theory, that such individuals would occasionally have …
Darwin argues we are too ignorant about organisms’ full “economy” to dismiss small useful changes, discussing giraffe tails as fly-flappers and how insect resistance lets cattle spread and survive despite harassment.
I have sometimes felt as much difficulty, though of a very different kind, on this head, as in the case of an organ as perfect and complex as the eye. In the first place, we are much too ignorant in regard to the whole economy of any one organic being, to say what slight modifications would be of importance or not. In a former chapter I have given instances of most trifling characters, such as the down on fruit and …
He uses the bee sting, insect mating systems, queen-bee behavior, and plant pollination to show that traits can benefit a community while harming individuals, governed by natural selection’s relentless logic.
perfect, which, when used against many attacking animals, cannot be withdrawn, owing to the backward serratures, and so inevitably causes the death of the insect by tearing out its viscera? If we look at the sting of the bee, as having originally existed in a remote progenitor as a boring and serrated instrument, like that in so many members of the same great order, and which has been modified but not perfected for …
Darwin argues instincts vary within species and can be shaped by natural selection, noting that aphides excrete to ants, yet likely not for ants’ exclusive benefit, and that fear levels differ by persecution by humans.
either one or the other instinct might be preserved by natural selection. And such instances of diversity of instinct in the same species can be shown to occur in nature. Again as in the case of corporeal structure, and conformably with my theory, the instinct of each species is good for itself, but has never, as far as we can judge, been produced for the exclusive good of others. One of the strongest instances of a…
Darwin explains how cuckoo egg-laying could evolve from occasional laying in other nests, describes ostrich communal egg-laying and parasitic bees, and begins the evidence for slave-making ants via Pierre Huber.
generated. I may add that, according to Dr. Gray and to some other observers, the European cuckoo has not utterly lost all maternal love and care for her own offspring. The occasional habit of birds laying their eggs in other birds’ nests, either of the same or of a distinct species, is not very uncommon with the Gallinaceæ; and this perhaps explains the origin of a singular instinct in the allied group of ostriches…
He reports his own skepticism and observations of Formica sanguinea slave-making ants in southern England, describing their nestmates, slave-like behavior, and differences from other slave-making species.
these well-ascertained facts? If we had not known of any other slave-making ant, it would have been hopeless to have speculated how so wonderful an instinct could have been perfected. Formica sanguinea was likewise first discovered by P. Huber to be a slave-making ant. This species is found in the southern parts of England, and its habits have been attended to by Mr. F. Smith, of the British Museum, to whom I am muc…
Darwin details further ant experiments and encounters, including slave-maker migrations, raids on pupae, discrimination between pupae types, and interactions between slave-making and independent ant species in the field.
difference in the usual habits of the masters and slaves in the two countries, probably depends merely on the slaves being captured in greater numbers in Switzerland than in England. One day I fortunately chanced to witness a migration from one nest to another, and it was a most interesting spectacle to behold the masters carefully carrying, as Huber has described, their slaves in their jaws. Another day my attentio…
He contrasts the dependence of Formica rufescens and Formica sanguinea on slaves, proposes a natural-selection pathway for the evolution of slave-making, and then introduces hive-bee comb construction as a case of instinct producing precise architecture.
rushing about in the greatest agitation, and one was perched motionless with its own pupa in its mouth on the top of a spray of heath over its ravaged home. Such are the facts, though they did not need confirmation by me, in regard to the wonderful instinct of making slaves. Let it be observed what a contrast the instinctive habits of F. sanguinea present with those of the F. rufescens. The latter does not build its…
He cites an experimental test by separating combs and inserting a wax strip, then observes bees excavating spherical pits that intersect and become shallow basins, after which they build wax walls along intersection lines.
I wrote to Professor Miller, of Cambridge, and this geometer has kindly read over the following statement, drawn up from his information, and tells me that it is strictly correct:— If a number of equal spheres be described with their centres placed in two parallel layers; with the centre of each sphere at the distance of radius x the square root of 2 or radius x 1.41421 (or at some lesser distance), from the centres…
Darwin describes an experiment with bees altering wax excavation geometry: a vermilion-wax ridge leads bees to stop excavating so flat basal plates form along the planes where opposite basins meet.
each hexagonal prism was built upon the festooned edge of a smooth basin, instead of on the straight edges of a three-sided pyramid as in the case of ordinary cells. I then put into the hive, instead of a thick, square piece of wax, a thin and narrow, knife-edged ridge, coloured with vermilion. The bees instantly began on both sides to excavate little basins near to each other, in the same way as before; but the rid…
He addresses how selection could shape sterile castes, arguing traits can correlate with sterility and accumulate by selection of families rather than individuals, while discussing dramatic ant caste differences.
transmitted successively acquired modifications of structure or instinct to its progeny. It may well be asked how is it possible to reconcile this case with the theory of natural selection? First, let it be remembered that we have innumerable instances, both in our domestic productions and in those in a state of nature, of all sorts of differences of structure which have become correlated to certain ages, and to eit…
Darwin argues that intermediate forms and gradations within nests can reconcile caste differences with gradual evolution, giving examples of British ant workers (Formica flava) and citing driver ants (Anomma) from West Africa.
secretes a sort of honey, supplying the place of that excreted by the aphides, or the domestic cattle as they may be called, which our European ants guard or imprison. It will indeed be thought that I have an overweening confidence in the principle of natural selection, when I do not admit that such wonderful and well-established facts at once annihilate my theory. In the simpler case of neuter insects all of one ca…
Darwin evaluates Pallas’s doctrine about domestic animals descending from multiple aboriginal species via commingled intercrossing, arguing domestication can remove sterility, and concludes sterility is common but not absolutely universal.
of these crossed geese are kept in various parts of the country; and as they are kept for profit, where neither pure parent-species exists, they must certainly be highly fertile. A doctrine which originated with Pallas, has been largely accepted by modern naturalists; namely, that most of our domestic animals have descended from two or more aboriginal species, since commingled by intercrossing. On this view, the abo…
Darwin argues that birds and other animals spread seeds effectively: gales can blow birds far, seeds may survive passage through bird crops or even predators’ stomachs, and seeds can hitchhike via mud on feet or within fish diets.
few days’ immersion in sea-water; but some taken out of the crop of a pigeon, which had floated on artificial salt-water for 30 days, to my surprise nearly all germinated. Living birds can hardly fail to be highly effective agents in the transportation of seeds. I could give many facts showing how frequently birds of many kinds are blown by gales to vast distances across the ocean. We may I think safely assume that …
In the chapter continuation, Darwin argues that fresh-water organisms spread widely despite barriers, explaining it via pond-to-pond migration and accidental transport, illustrated by his observations of duck-weed and shells clinging to ducks.
GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION—*continued*. Distribution of fresh-water productions. On the inhabitants of oceanic islands. Absence of Batrachians and of terrestrial Mammals. On the relation of the inhabitants of islands to those of the nearest mainland. On colonisation from the nearest source with subsequent modification. Summary of the last and present chapters. As lakes and river-systems are separated from each other…
Darwin argues that water birds and fish can transport seeds and eggs of freshwater plants and animals over long distances, using mud experiments and examples of germinating seeds in birds’ waste or stomachs.
Colymbetes, once flew on board the ‘Beagle,’ when forty-five miles distant from the nearest land: how much farther it might have flown with a favouring gale no one can tell. With respect to plants, it has long been known what enormous ranges many fresh-water and even marsh-species have, both over continents and to the most remote oceanic islands. This is strikingly shown, as remarked by Alph. de Candolle, in large g…
He says descent with modification likely covers whole biological classes, argues animals probably share only a few progenitors, and uses analogy plus shared biological features to infer a single primordial origin.
from those who believe in the mutability of species, on their own side they ignore the whole subject of the first appearance of species in what they consider reverent silence. It may be asked how far I extend the doctrine of the modification of species. The question is difficult to answer, because the more distinct the forms are which we may consider, by so much the arguments fall away in force. But some arguments o…
Darwin offers his famous image of an “entangled bank” where interdependent organisms arise from laws of growth, reproduction, inheritance, variability, and struggle leading to natural selection, yielding the evolution of higher animals.
based on a new foundation, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation. Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history. Authors of the highest eminence seem to be fully satisfied with the view that each species has been independently created. To my mind it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production and extinctio…
Aeneas and his crew rescue Achaemenides from a Cyclops’ cave, where he survived by eating roots and berries and blinded Polyphemus with Ulysses’ crew.
one star was kindled in the sky, Nor could the moon her borrow’d light supply; For misty clouds involv’d the firmament, The stars were muffled, and the moon was pent. “Scarce had the rising sun the day reveal’d, Scarce had his heat the pearly dews dispell’d, When from the woods there bolts, before our sight, Somewhat betwixt a mortal and a sprite, So thin, so ghastly meager, and so wan, …
A long description of Egyptian geography and beliefs follows: Egypt’s borders and the Nile’s origins, winds, cataracts, seven mouths, inundation effects, and animals like crocodiles and hippos.
he had been seeking with great labour, a circumstance which, in the opinion of the inhabitants of those regions, indicates prosperity, abundant crops, and several other kinds of good fortune. 7. On this subject it seems desirable to say a few words. Among the animals which have been consecrated by the reverence of the ancients, Mnevis and Apis are the most eminent. Mnevis, concerning whom there is nothing remarkable…
The narrative continues with specific Nile-and-Egypt marvels: seasonal sun-shadow effects at Syene and Meroe, Egypt’s animal lore, pyramids and underground passages, and a sketch of Egyptian provincial divisions.
great abundance in that country during the hot season; but both these theories seem inconsistent with the truth--for rain never falls in Ethiopia, or at least only at rare intervals. 7. A more common opinion is, that during the continuance of the wind from the north, called the Precursor, and of the Etesian gales, which last forty-five days without interruption, they drive back the stream and check its speed, so tha…
Durkheim argues that children’s anger at objects and their treatement of toys as living beings do not prove primitive belief in animated objects; such behaviour results from pain, emotion, and the need to play.
animal this is the greatest of things?[128] Then it is a vain enterprise to seek to infer the mental constitution of the primitive man from that of the higher animals. But if the objection of Spencer does not have the decisive value which its author gives it, it is equally true that the animist theory can draw no authority from the confusions which children seem to make. When we hear a child angrily apostrophize an …
He defines the totem system: clans share a name that signals kinship, each clan has a unique totem, and totemic names commonly refer to animals or plants, with rare cases including parts of animals or ancestors.
duties towards each other which are identical with those which have always been incumbent upon kindred: such duties as aid, vengeance, mourning, the obligation not to marry among themselves, etc. By this first characteristic, the clan does not differ from the Roman *gens* or the Greek [Greek: genos]; for this relationship also came merely from the fact that all the members of the *gens* had the same name,[215] the *…
In imitation rites supporting fertility of totem species, Durkheim describes Australian Intichiuma ceremonies with decorated men, symbolic shelters, chants, and gestures imitating insects’ developmental phases.
THE POSITIVE CULT--*continued* II.--*Imitative Rites and the Principle of Causality* But the processes which we have just been describing are not the only ones employed to assure the fecundity of the totemic species. There are others which serve for the same end, whether they accompany the preceding ones or replace them. I In the very ceremonies which we have been describing, in addition to the oblations, whether…
Durkheim continues with Intichiuma imitations for other grubs and comparisons (emus, water, plover cries), citing Schulze and Strehlow’s claim that Arunta ceremonies frequently mimic animals’ movements and sounds.
just this moment and which is like an oral commentary on the rite, consists in a description of the movements made by the insect at this stage of its development.[1160] Another Intichiuma,[1161] celebrated in connection with another kind of grub, the *unchalka*[1162] grub, has this character still more clearly. The actors of this rite decorate themselves with designs representing the *unchalka* bush upon which this …
Durkheim describes northwest tribes’ sacred stone piles (*tarlow*) representing animals and plants, where clans perform imitative dances, hunting actions, and threshing/grinding—explained as sympathetic magic by contagion principles.
rivers, certain ceremonies are celebrated whose object is exactly the same as that of the Intichiuma of the Arunta, and which seem to be, for the most part, essentially imitative. These peoples give the name *tarlow* to certain piles of stones which are evidently sacred, for, as we shall see, they are the object of important rites. Every animal, every plant, and in fact, every totem or sub-totem,[1175] is represente…
Darwin describes St. Jago geology, including a white shelly limestone band over volcanic rock, transformed by basalt flows, and then observes marine animals like Aplysia that emit purplish-red and stinging secretions.
thousandth of an inch square, mixed with finer matter. After this fact one need not be surprised at the diffusion of the far lighter and smaller sporules of cryptogamic plants. The geology of this island is the most interesting part of its natural history. On entering the harbour, a perfectly horizontal white band, in the face of the sea cliff, may be seen running for some miles along the coast, and at the height o…
At St. Jago Darwin watches a cuttle-fish’s color-changing camouflage, ink-spraying escape, and water-ejection behavior, and notes its phosphorescence when kept in the cabin.
around. Besides this means of defence, an acrid secretion, which is spread over its body, causes a sharp, stinging sensation, similar to that produced by the Physalia, or Portuguese man-of-war. I was much interested, on several occasions, by watching the habits of an Octopus, or cuttle-fish. Although common in the pools of water left by the retiring tide, these animals were not easily caught. By means of their lon…
While hove-to near St. Paul’s Rocks in February 1832, Darwin records its coordinates, rock composition, and guano-derived coatings, lists the small bird and insect fauna, and argues that insects and feather-dirt colonize new oceanic land early.
in carrying their heads, they cannot crawl with ease when placed on the ground. I observed that one which I kept in the cabin was slightly phosphorescent in the dark. ST. PAUL'S ROCKS.--In crossing the Atlantic we hove-to during the morning of February 16th, close to the island of St. Paul's. This cluster of rocks is situated in 0 degs. 58' north latitude, and 29 degs. 15' west longitude. It is 540 miles distant f…
Darwin discusses the confused chemistry of metallic oxide coatings on rocks, then describes the pufferfish Diodon antennatus inflating by swallowing air and water, ejecting it through gills, and secreting a lasting carmine-red substance.
these coatings of metallic oxides, which seem as if cemented to the rocks, is not understood; and no reason, I believe, can be assigned for their thickness remaining the same. One day I was amused by watching the habits of the Diodon antennatus, which was caught swimming near the shore. This fish, with its flabby skin, is well known to possess the singular power of distending itself into a nearly spherical form. A…
Darwin describes tiny confervae masses near Keeling Atoll and microscopic animalcula that explode after cilia-driven motion, then links sea discoloration off Chile and elsewhere to organic causes rather than non-living material.
accidental injury. I may add, that frequently a pair of these bodies were attached to each other, as represented above, cone beside cone, at that end where the septum occurs. I will add here a few other observations connected with the discoloration of the sea from organic causes. On the coast of Chile, a few leagues north of Concepcion, the Beagle one day passed through great bands of muddy water, exactly like that…
Darwin reports other colored-water phenomena: bright red lines near Tierra del Fuego from prawn-like crustaceans eaten by seabirds and seals, dark yellow Galapagos bands from gelatinous balls, and he argues for current- and wind-driven band formation.
the red and blue water joined was distinctly defined. The weather for some days previously had been calm, and the ocean abounded, to an unusual degree, with living creatures. [9] In the sea around Tierra del Fuego, and at no great distance from the land, I have seen narrow lines of water of a bright red colour, from the number of crustacea, which somewhat resemble in form large prawns. The sealers call them whale-fo…
Darwin describes terrestrial Planaria living under rotten wood, detailing their simple anatomy, salt-water effects, and experiments showing regeneration of organs after cutting specimens in half.
by always having something to attract his attention; but in these fertile climates, teeming with life, the attractions are so numerous, that he is scarcely able to walk at all. The few observations which I was enabled to make were almost exclusively confined to the invertebrate animals. The existence of a division of the genus Planaria, which inhabits the dry land, interested me much. These animals are of so simpl…
Darwin continues his Corcovado observations, discussing how clouds curl over the summit yet keep size, then describes May–June winter climate, rainfall, and the nocturnal chorus of frogs and insects.
condensed; but as the light wreaths of cloud passed over the ridge, and came within the influence of the warmer atmosphere of the northern sloping bank, they were immediately re-dissolved. The climate, during the months of May and June, or the beginning of winter, was delightful. The mean temperature, from observations taken at nine o'clock, both morning and evening, was only 72 degs. It often rained heavily, but …
Darwin describes green bioluminescence and detailed flash behavior of Lampyridae fireflies and related luminous insects, including larval feeding and tail structures that produce drops of fluid.
not unpleasant. Every evening after dark this great concert commenced; and often have I sat listening to it, until my attention has been drawn away by some curious passing insect. At these times the fireflies are seen flitting about from hedge to hedge. On a dark night the light can be seen at about two hundred paces distant. It is remarkable that in all the different kinds of glowworms, shining elaters, and vario…
Darwin explains his observations of the luminous beetle Pyrophorus luminousus’ spring mechanics and then tours the Botanic Garden, comparing tropical plant fragrances, haze effects, and hummingbird behavior.
to have been laid on the elasticity of the spine: so sudden a spring could not be the result of simple muscular contraction, without the aid of some mechanical contrivance. On several occasions I enjoyed some short but most pleasant excursions in the neighbouring country. One day I went to the Botanic Garden, where many plants, well known for their great utility, might be seen growing. The leaves of the camphor, p…
Darwin reports excursions around Rio, collecting a fungus that attracts insects, then describes insect abundance patterns and specific butterfly behavior, including Papilio feronia’s running legs and clicking sound.
flower, with their wings vibrating so rapidly as to be scarcely visible, I was reminded of the sphinx moths: their movements and habits are indeed in many respects very similar. Following a pathway, I entered a noble forest, and from a height of five or six hundred feet, one of those splendid views was presented, which are so common on every side of Rio. At this elevation the landscape attains its most brilliant ti…
Darwin compares tropical and temperate beetle assemblages, discusses predator-prey balance between beetles, spiders, and wasps, and describes ant swarms trapping other insects near Bahia.
under a spring catch. The noise was continued at short intervals, and could be distinguished at about twenty yards' distance: I am certain there is no error in the observation. I was disappointed in the general aspect of the Coleoptera. The number of minute and obscurely coloured beetles is exceedingly great. [7] The cabinets of Europe can, as yet, boast only of the larger species from tropical climates. It is suff…
Darwin describes hunting wasps that paralyze spiders and stuff clay cells for larvae, then recounts a deadly contest between a Pepsis wasp and a Lycosa spider interrupted by his intervention.
might have avoided the stone, and this doubtless would have happened, if it had been originally there: but having been attacked, the lion-hearted little warriors scorned the idea of yielding. Certain wasp-like insects, which construct in the corners of the verandahs clay cells for their larvae, are very numerous in the neighbourhood of Rio. These cells they stuff full of half-dead spiders and caterpillars, which th…
Darwin continues the wasp-spider account with his interruption, then broadens to how spiders build webs, kill prey with poison, and react to disturbance in multiple specialized ways.
side of its thorax. At last, carefully examining with its antennae the now motionless spider, it proceeded to drag away the body. But I stopped both tyrant and prey. [9] The number of spiders, in proportion to other insects, is here compared with England very much larger; perhaps more so than with any other division of the articulate animals. The variety of species among the jumping spiders appears almost infinite. …
Darwin explains gaucho hunting tools and techniques—lazo and bolas—including how they’re whirled and thrown, and tells how he accidentally caught his own horse while practicing.
thrown himself down. The Gauchos roared with laughter; they cried out that they had seen every sort of animal caught, but had never before seen a man caught by himself. During the two succeeding days, I reached the furthest point which I was anxious to examine. The country wore the same aspect, till at last the fine green turf became more wearisome than a dusty turnpike road. We everywhere saw great numbers of part…
During his Maldonado stay Darwin reports collecting mammals, especially the campestris deer, describes its tameness and wary behavior on horseback, and details the extremely strong, persistent odor from the male deer’s buck.
is, that there are many plants in common to the two countries but with respect to the trees of Tierra del Fuego, even attempts made to transplant them have failed. During our stay at Maldonado I collected several quadrupeds, eighty kinds of birds, and many reptiles, including nine species of snakes. Of the indigenous mammalia, the only one now left of any size, which is common, is the Cervus campestris. This deer i…
Darwin describes numerous rodents, especially the capybara, including sizes, habitat preferences near fresh and salt water, observed tameness, distinctive vocalizations, swimming behavior, and notes predators and meat/skin value.
fresh earth, the taint is removed. I have somewhere read that the islanders in the north of Scotland treat the rank carcasses of the fish-eating birds in the same manner. The order Rodentia is here very numerous in species: of mice alone I obtained no less than eight kinds. [4] The largest gnawing animal in the world, the Hydrochaerus capybara (the water-hog), is here also common. One which I shot at Monte Video we…
Darwin describes the tucutuco, a subterranean rodent near the Rio Parana, noting its burrows, mole-like digging, nocturnal feeding on roots, characteristic grunt, and unusual patterns of blindness and limited locomotion.
skins are of trifling value, and the meat is very indifferent. On the islands in the Rio Parana they are exceedingly abundant, and afford the ordinary prey to the Jaguar. The Tucutuco (Ctenomys Brasiliensis) is a curious small animal, which may be briefly described as a Gnawer, with the habits of a mole. It is extremely numerous in some parts of the country, but it is difficult to be procured, and never, I believe,…