From F. W. Smartt to Willie[?] 3 January 1873
Ballymahon
3 January 1873
⟨M⟩y dear [Willie],1
We have a man at present in the Workhouse named Patrick Walsh an Idiot, who has the extraordinary power of apparently chewing his cud—2 I have seen him ⟨m⟩yself on more than one occasion regurgitating food from the stomac⟨h⟩ into the mouth about fif⟨teen⟩ minutes after it was take⟨n⟩ and repeat the process of deglutition & throwing ba⟨ck⟩ the food five or six times in the space of ten minutes.
The stomach of man in the natural state is a simple pouch, but in peculiar cases I con⟨jecture⟩ there is a second pouch caused probably by some ⟨ir⟩regularity in the distribution ⟨o⟩f the circular & longitudinal muscular fibres of the stomach— If the unfortunate man should die I would make an application for permission to make a post mortem examination ⟨fo⟩r in no other way could a satisfactory explanation of this wonderful case be given—
with kindest regards to all | Believe me to remain | Very Sincerely yrs. | F. W. Smartt
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Expression 2d ed.: The expression of the emotions in man and animals. By Charles Darwin. 2d edition. Edited by Francis Darwin. London: John Murray. 1890.
Summary
Reports the case of an idiot in his care who apparently chews his cud.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8721
- From
- Francis William Smartt
- To
- Unidentified
- Sent from
- Ballymahon
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 181
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp damaged † (by CD)
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8721,” accessed on
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21
