RECORD: Darwin, C. R. n.d. F Water plants to experimentise on in salt water & Birds stomachs. CUL-DAR206.30. Edited by John van Wyhe (Darwin Online, http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Christine Chua and edited by John van Wyhe 12.2022. RN1

NOTE: See record in the Darwin Online manuscript catalogue, enter its Identifier here. Reproduced with permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library and William Huxley Darwin.

The editors of the Correspondence noted, vol. 5, p. xvii: "One major experimental project was designed to investigate possible mechanisms for the geographical distribution of animals and plants. Darwin began a series of researches on the migration and dispersal of organisms in order to supplement views already expressed in his essay of 1844 (Foundations; Correspondence vols. 3 and 4). In particular, he undertook to determine the ability of seeds to withstand the effects of salt-water and of plants with ripe fruit to float, also drawing the botanist Miles Joseph Berkeley, his friend Hooker, and various readers of the popular journal the Gardeners' Chronicle into the study. He investigated other potential means of distribution, particularly the dispersal of seeds and ova by fish, birds, insects, and other animals. These investigations were part of his commitment to explain geographical distribution as a consequence of the operation of demonstrable means of dispersal combined with the effects of known changes in climate and geology. Darwin boldly rejected the popular idea of former land-bridges between continents, and between continents and oceanic islands, and proposed transport over sea as the alternative to such speculative, large-scale geological changes. As he told Hooker in a letter of 5 June [1855], 'it shocks my philosophy to create land, without some other & independent evidence.' With insular floras and faunas the key elements of a study of geographical distribution, he carefully analysed lists of the species on various island groups—focussing on Madeira, the Canary Islands, and the Azores—and compared them with the floras and faunas of nearby landmasses. Some of the most interesting letters in this volume set out Darwin's practical researches and forceful arguments for the dispersal of animals and plants with Hooker who, with Charles Lyell and Edward Forbes, was one of the most public proponents of land-bridges."

Darwin's results for floating seeds in salt-water were published in:  

Darwin, C. R. 1855. Does sea-water kill seeds? Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette no. 21 (26 May): 356-357. F1683

Darwin, C. R. 1855. Effect of salt-water on the germination of seeds. Gardeners' Chronicle and Agricultural Gazette no. 47 (24 November): 773. F1687

Darwin, C. R. 1857. On the action of sea-water on the germination of seeds. [Read 6 May 1856.] Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London (Botany) 1: 130-140. F1694

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Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

File last updated 14 January, 2023