Huxley recalls having exclaimed to himself: “How extremely stupid not to have thought of that!” (F. 1854Reflecting in later life on his first reading of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, biologist, champion of evolutionary theory, and Darwin’s friend T. Despite this there does appear to be much mutual interest and respect between the two, with Hancock being later noted as a supporter of Darwin.Figure 1: Photograph of Charles Darwin, c. ORIGIN OF SPECIES FULLUnfortunately the Transactions only contain the letters received by Hancock from Darwin and not those that were sent by him, so the full correspondence from both sides is not recorded. Within the correspondence there is documentation of the exchange of specimens, paired with the post examination thoughts of each. The subject of the correspondence concerned theoretical discussion of barnacles, in particular anatomical adaptations concerning boring, mostly centering around Hancock’s Alcippe Lampus. The correspondence began in late September 1849 after Darwin wrote to Hancock concerning the latter’s work on the burrowing barnacle, which began a lengthy correspondence of which 20 known letters were detailed in the Transactions. The letters received by Hancock from Darwin are transcribed in the “ Natural History Transactions of Northumberland and Durham, Volume VIII 1880-89″. Albany Hancock was the older brother of John Hancock and was a highly respected and skilled anatomist and artist, with wide ranging zoological interests. Hewitson, however, is not Darwin’s sole link with the NHSN, as another founding member of the society, Albany Hancock (1806-1873), engaged in correspondence with Darwin. Image from Hewitson’s “Illustrations of New Species of exotic butterflies” Hewitson (1806-1878) was from Newcastle upon Tyne and a founder member of the NHSN. Interestingly, the copy of “On the Origin of Species” in the NHSN’s possession was bequeathed by a person who rejected the ideas put forward in Darwin’s work – William C Hewitson. In fact, Darwin’s complete theory is thought to have been prepared as early as 1844, yet its appearance in print was delayed by many obstacles that prevented its immediate publication as a combination of evidence and theory into a cohesive body of work.Īlongside his ill health, one other concern that plagued Darwin in his apparent reluctance to publish was the potential impact that such a work, which rejected the existence of an almighty divine creator of all creatures, would have on a highly religious population, a population that included his religious wife Emma Wedgewood. In these, Darwin had begun to comment on the role of selective breeding in evolution, viewing selection to be ‘ the keystone of man’s success’. Despite this, “On the Origin of Species” was only published in 1859 despite the core ideas of his influential theory being present in Notebooks that he produced as early as 1837. The book was based on his many years of work in accumulating evidence to support his theory, beginning with his famous trip on the HMS Beagle in the early 1830s. This includes a rare first edition of Darwin’s seminal text “On the Origin of Species” which outlines Darwin’s theory of transmutation and evolution. The NHSN has built up a wonderful library of books since its formation in 1829.
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