To L. C. Wedgwood 8 June [1867–72]1
Down
June 8th
My dear Lucy
I hear that your Dog is a barker: please observe for me whether the (upper) lips are at all retracted or everted when he barks & just before he barks. My impression is that if you open a dog’s mouth lips almost hide teeth; but that they are much more exposed, when he barks, which implies some contraction or eversion.
You are so good an observer that I know I can trust your conclusion. The Bark ought not to be a savage one, as that wd give tendency to snarl— a joyful bark or bark of good spirits wd. be best.—2
Think of any fact about expression of any emotion in any of your birds.—3
Yours affect. | C. Darwin
Our Polly4 will not bark except as she rushes away to some supposed enemy in forest.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Atkins, Hedley J. B. 1974. Down, the home of the Darwins: the story of a house and the people who lived there. London: Royal College of Surgeons.
Summary
Asks her to observe whether her dog exposes his teeth when barking and to think of any facts about expression in her birds.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-7223
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Lucy Caroline Wedgwood/Lucy Caroline Harrison
- Sent from
- Down
- Source of text
- CUL (Add 4251: 334)
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 7223,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-7223.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 20
