Chapter CDXVIII: Letter 782: TO ANTHONY RICH. Down, February 4th, 1882 (5)

Weir, Mr. John Jenner (1822-94): came of a family of Scotch descent; in 1839 he entered the service of the Custom House, and during the final eleven years of his service, i.e. from 1874 to 1885, held the position of Accountant and Controller-General. He was a born naturalist, and his "aptitude for exact observation was of the highest order" (Mr. M'Lachlan in the "Entomologist's Monthly Magazine," May 1894). He is chiefly known as an entomologist, but he had also extensive knowledge of Ornithology, Horticulture, and of the breeds of various domestic animals and cage-birds. His personal qualities made him many friends, and he was especially kind to beginners in the numerous subjects on which he was an authority ("Science Gossip," May 1894). -experiments on caterpillars. -letters to. -extract from letter to Darwin from. -on birds. -invited to Down. -value of his letters to Darwin. -mentioned.

Weismann, A., Darwin asked to point out how far his work follows same lines as that of. -on dimorphism. -"Einfluss der Isolirung." -letters to. -Meldola's translation of "Studies in Descent." -"Studies in Theory of Descent." -faith in Sexual Selection.

Wellingtonia.

Wells, Dr., essay on dew. -quoted by Darwin as having enunciated principle of Natural Selection before publication of "Origin."

Welwitschia, Hooker's work on. -Darwin on. -a "vegetable Ornithorhynchus."

Welwitschia mirabilis, seedlings of.

Wenlock, coral limestone of.

West Indies, plants of. -coral reefs. -elevation and subsidence of. -orchids of.

Westminster Abbey, memorial to Lyell.

"Westminster Review," Huxley's review of the "Origin" in. -Wallace's article.

Westwood, J.O. (1805-93): Professor of Entomology at Oxford. The Royal medal was awarded to him in 1855. He was educated at a Friends' School at Sheffield, and subsequently articled to a solicitor in London; he was for a short time a partner in the firm, but he never really practised, and devoted himself to science. He is the author of between 350 and 400 papers, chiefly on entomological and archaeological subjects, besides some twenty books. To naturalists he is known by his writings on insects, but he was also "one of the greatest living authorities on Anglo-Saxon and mediaeval manuscripts" ("Dictionary of National Biography"). -on range of genera. -and Royal medal. -mentioned.

Whales, Flower on.

Wheat, mummy. -fertilisation of. -forms of Russian.

Whewell, W.

Whiston.

Whitaker, W., on escarpments.

White, F.B., letter to. -on hemiptera of St. Helena.

White, Gilbert, Darwin writes an account of Down in the manner of.

White, on regeneration.

Whiteman, R.G., letter to.

Whitney, on origin of language.

Wichura, Max, on hybrid willows. -on hybridisation.

Widow-bird, experiments on.

Wiegmann.

Wiesner, Prof. J., disagrees with Darwin's views on plant movement. "Das Bewegungsvermogen der Pflanzen." -on heliotropism. -letter to.

Wigand, A., "Der Darwinismus..." -Jager's work contra.

Wight, Dr., on Cucurbitaceae.

Wilberforce, Bishop, review in the "Quarterly."

Wildness of game.

Wilkes' exploring expedition, Dana's volume in reports of.

Williamson, Prof. W.C.

Willis, J.C., reference to his "Flowering Plants and Ferns."

Willows, Walsh on galls of. -Wichura on hybrid.

Wilson, A.S., letters to. -on Russian wheat.

Wind-fertilised trees and plants, abundant in humid and temperate regions.

Wingless birds, transport of.

Wings of ostrich.

Wire-bird, of St. Helena.

Witches' brooms.

Wives, resemblance to husbands.

Wollaston, Thomas Vernon (1821-78): Wollaston was an under-graduate at Jesus College, Cambridge, and in late life published several books on the coleopterous insects of Madeira, the Canaries, the Cape Verde Islands, and other regions. He is referred to in the "Origin of Species" (Edition VI page 109) as having discovered "the remarkable fact that 200 beetles, out of the 550 species (but more are now known) inhabiting Madeira, are so far deficient in wings that they cannot fly; and that, of the twenty-nine endemic genera, no less than twenty-three have all their species in this condition!" See Obituary Notice in "Nature," Volume XVII., page 210, 1878, and "Trans. Entom. Soc." 1877, page xxxviii.) "Catalogue" (Probably the "Catalogue of the Coleopterous Insects of the Canaries in the British Museum," 1864.) -catalogue of insects of Canary Islands. -Darwin and Royal medal. -in agreement with Falconer in opposition to Darwin's views on species. -"Insecta Maderensia." -on rarity of intermediate varieties in insects. -review on the "Origin" by. -on varieties. -mentioned.

Wolverhampton, abrupt termination of boulders near.

Wood, fossil.

Wood, T.W., drawings by.

Woodcock, germination of seeds carried by. -protective colouring of.

Woodd, C.H.L., letter to.

Woodpecker, adaptation in. -and direct action. -form of tail of.

Woodward, A.S., on Neomylodon. -and C.D. Sherborn, "Catalogue of British Fossil Vertebrata."

Woodward, Samuel Pickworth (1821-65): held an appointment in the British Museum Library for a short time, and then became Sub-Curator to the Geological Society (1839). In 1845 he was appointed Professor of Geology and Natural History in the recently founded Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester; he afterwards obtained a post as first-class assistant in the Department of Geology and Mineralogy in the British Museum. Woodward's chief work, "The Manual of Mollusca," was published in 1851-56. ("A Memoir of Dr. S.P. Woodward," "Trans. Norfolk and Norwich Naturalists' Society," Volume III., page 279, 1882. By H.B. Woodward.) -letters to.

World, age of the.

Worms, Darwin's work on. -destruction by rain of. -intelligence of.

Wrangel's "Travels in Siberia."

"Wreck of the 'Favourite'," Clarke's.

Wright, C., on bees' cells. -letters to. -review by.

Wright, G.F., extract from letter from Asa Gray, to.

Wydler, on morphology of cruciferous flower.

Wyman, Jeffries (1814-74): graduated at Harvard in 1833, and afterwards entered the Medical College at Boston, receiving the M.D. degree in 1837. In 1847 Wyman was appointed Hervey Professor of Anatomy at Harvard, which position he held up to the time of his death. His contributions to zoological science numbered over a hundred papers. (See "Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts and Sciences," Volume II., 1874-75, pages 496-505.) -letter from. -on spontaneous generation. -mentioned.

Xenogamy, term suggested by Kerner.

Xenoneura antiquorum, Devonian insect.

Xerophytic characters, not confined to dry-climate plants.

Yangma Valley, Hooker's account of dam in.

Yeo, Prof. Gerald.

Yew, origin of Irish.

York, British Association meeting (1881), (1844). -Dallas in charge of museum.

Yorkshire, Hooker on glaciers in.

Yucca, fertilisation by moths.

Zacharias, Otto, letter to.

Zante, colour of Polygala flowers in.

Zea, Gartner's work on. -hermaphrodite and female flowers on a male panicle. -varieties received from Asa Gray.

Zeiller, R., "Le Marquis G. de Saporta, sa Vie..."

Zinziberaceae.

Zittel, Karl A. von, "Handbuch der Palaeontologie."

Zoea stage, in life-history of decapods.

Zoological Gardens, dangerous to suggest subsidising.

Zoological nomenclature.

Zoologist, Darwin as.

"Zoonomia," Erasmus Darwin's.

Zygaena (Burnet-moth), mentioned by Darwin in his early recollections.