Weldon, Walter Frank Raphael

Manuscript letters

Folder 1: 7 Jan 1890-15 Apr 1890

Discussing his work on original curves, mean curve, centile tables; enclosures mathematical workings and graphs; discusses how he treated his curves after coaching from MacAlister; concerning the geometric mean; concerning curves and natural selection; curve of Plymouth shrimps; mean curves of organs of crangon; work on tables using a new species of shrimp from Sheerness; concerning frilling of oysters and the influence of Whitstable in this (etching attached).

Folder 2 : 21 Apr 1890-18 Sep 1890

Encloses a manuscript paper by Galton "Sexual generation x cross fertilisation"; discussion of somatic cells; details of a new machine made by Elliot for Dr G H Fowler; correlation chart of 1000 shrimps; details of a species of prawn which behave strangely; some discussion about Galton's paper on fingerprints.

Folder 3 : 1 Jun 1891-24 Dec 1893

Letter dated 1 Jun 1891 discusses fingerprints with Galton's notes in margins and 11 examples of fingerprints made with ordinary brown printing ink; concerning research on breeding of crabs in Naples; diagram of two types of herring; note about an informal meeting for an application to be made to the Royal Society to form a Committee to conduct a statistical enquiry into the variability of organisms.

Folder 4 : 26 Jan 1894-16 Nov 1894

Discussing the results of throwing dice and probability; discussing Miss Jeffriey's work and progress with crab measurements; discussing Bateson's new book; discussing the work of Walter Heape; discussing results of measurements with crabs and work with Daphnia (graph and drawing); Petrie was going to open a graveyard with 200 early Egyptian skeletons and wanted to know if they could be used for research.

Folder 5 : 23 Jan 1895-28 Oct 1895

Concerning his research - Daphnia experiments have failed, dice-throwing, herring curve and Pearson's work on this, chrysantheanum tables; discussing Pearson's theory of skew variation and of the curve of frontal breadth; results and graphs of experiments with crabs (frontal breath) and problems of measuring natural selection.

Folder 6 : 5 Jan 1896-7 Dec 1896

Discussing the arithmetic relating to crabs and applying Pearson's formulae; discussing karyokinesis with diagram; enclosed Galton's essay "The service of sex" in a notebook; concerning Bateson.

Folder 7 : 12 Jan 1897-11 Nov 1896

Invitation from George Darwin; asked if Galton will take Bateson's view on his paper on crabs; discussing Lloyd Morgan's letter on birds; concerning the survival of the crabs; requests advice about an experiment with Daphnia.

Folder 8 : 9 Jan 1899-26 Jun 1900

Constructive criticism of a paper by Herdman and Boyce entitled "Observations upon the normal and pathological histology and bacteriology of the oyster"; wished words of a report to be removed; asked Galton for a reference for professorship at Oxford (Galton declined - reply in pencil); considered problems with race formation; concerning results with moths; proposed publication; discussing problems with the Evolution Committee; discussing Pearson's new edition; discussing distribution of "Palaearctic" animals by Kobelt and distribution of snails.

Folder 9 : 1 Jul 1902-27 Nov 1904

Mentioning Pfitzner's variations in hand and feet; discussing variation in "hairy" plants; discussing the theory of gametic purity and Mendel; discussing Bateson's paper (1903); discussing a meeting at Zoological Society; concerning the Royal Society's resolution about Pearson mixing mathematical methods and biological statements (23 Oct 1903); discussing snails; discussing Salpa; concerning Pearson's law of ancestral inheritance; asked Galton to collect data about Silician albinos; discussing cancer cells; theory of particular reversion; requested a definition of "inherited" and "acquired" characters.

Folder 10 : 15 Jan 1905-28 Feb 1906

Concerning Mendel's theory and doctrine of gametic purity; updating the mouse catalogue; arrangements for taking photography; concerning a barrow at Dorchester and bones of Berenius; discussing Bateson's work (Oct 1905); concerning colours of race horses and Mendelism and manuscript report of a meeting at the Royal Society; enclosed is uncorrected proof for Fellows of the Royal Society only "Note on the Offspring of Thoroughbred Chestnut Mares" by W F R Weldon and charts showing pedigrees.

1890-1906

176 letters, 23 enclosures and 6 envelopes

Walter Frank Raphael Weldon (1860-1906) was an English evolutionary biologist and a founder of biometry. He was the joint founding editor of Biometrika, with Francis Galton and Karl Pearson.

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884) achieved posthumous fame as founder of the new science of genetics, now referred to as the laws of Mendelian inheritance.

The papers are available at UCL Special Collections and Archives subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

A digitised copy is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.

The original material is held at UCL Special Collections. This catalogue is held by the Wellcome Library as part of Codebreakers: Makers of Modern Genetics.