The red notebook of Charles Darwin / edited, with an introduction and notes by Sandra Herbert.

  • Charles Darwin
Date:
1980
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Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Credit: The red notebook of Charles Darwin / edited, with an introduction and notes by Sandra Herbert. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    118/184 (page 104)
    104 SANDRA HERBERT 133 These observations by John Herschel (note 40) on the subject of the crystal¬ lization of barium sulphate were probably communicated to Darwin by Charles Lyell (note 3). Herschel's letter of 20 February 1836 to Lyell, quoted in note 40, contains the following passage (Cannon, 'The Impact of Uniformitarianism', p. 310): Cleavages of Rocks.—If Rocks have been heated to a point admitting a commence¬ ment of crystallization, ie to the point where particles can begin to move inter se—or at least on their own axes—some general cause must determine the position these particles will rest in on cooling—probably position will have some relation to the direction in which the heat escapes.—Now when all—or a majority of particles of the same nature have a general tendency to one position that must of course determine a cleavage plane.—Did you never notice how the infinitesimal crystals of fresh precipi¬ tated sulphate of Baryta [barium sulphate] & some other such bodies—arrange themselves alike in the fluid in which they float so as, when stirred all to glance with one light & give the appearance of silky filaments. Ask Faraday to shew you this phenomenon if you have not seen it—it is very pretty. What occurs in our expt, on a minute scale may occur in nature on a great one, as in granites, gneisses, mica slates &c—some sorts of soap in which insoluble margarates exist shew it beautifully [added : when mixed with water]. Lyell incorporated Herschel's observation into his next edition of the Principles. See Principles of Geology (5th ed.; London, 1837), vol. 4, pp. 358. Presumably Lyell showed Darwin Herschel's letter, or discussed its contents with him, sometime in late 1836 or early 1837. The 'Faraday' referred to in Herschel's letter is Michael Faraday, F.R.S. (1791-1867), the eminent natural philosopher and experimentalist. Erasmus Alvey Darwin (1804-1881). Charles' older brother who pursued the study of chemistry in his youth and early manhood. José de Acosta, Histoire naturelle et moralle des Indes (Paris, 1600), p. 125 refers to des tremblemens de terre qui ont couru depuis Chillé, jusques à Quitto, qui sont plus de cinq cens lieues. . Acosta continued, En la coste de Chillé (il ne me souvient quelle année) fut un tremblement de terre si terrible.... A peu de temps delà, qui fut l'an, de quatre vingts deux, vint le tremblement d'Arequipa, qui abbatit & ruina presque toute cette ville là. Du depuis en l'an quatre vingts six. . .aduint un autre tremblement en la cité des Roys [Lima].. .. And on p. 125 verso: En après l'an enfuyuant, il y eut encor un autre tremblement de terre au Royaume & cité de Quitto, & semble que tous ces notables tremblemens de terre en ceste coste, ayent succédé les uns aux autres par ordre.... Joseph-Charles Bailly (1777-1844), mineralogist to the expedition, as quoted in François Péron, Voyage de découvertes aux terres australes.. .1800-1804 (Paris, 1807), vol. 1, pp. 54-55. Following the passage quoted which Darwin copied correctly except for one misspelling (d'lile for de l'île) and the loss of a few accent marks, the text continues (p. 55): De ces observations, il résulte bien incontestablement que