My dear D^r. Ogle

I have received both your letters, & they tell me all that I wanted to know in the clearest possible way, as indeed all your letters have ever done.—¹ I thank you cordially. I will give case of murderer in my hobby-horse essay on expression.—² I fear that the Eustachian tube question must have cost you a deal of labour.—³ it is quite a complete little essay.— It is pretty clear that the mouth is not opened under surprise merely to improve the hearing. Yet why do Deaf men generally keep their mouths open? The other day a man here was mimicking a deaf friend, leaning his head forward & sideways to the speaker, with his mouth well open— it was a life-like representation of a deaf man.— Shakespeare somewhere says “hold your breath, listen” or “hark” I forget which.—⁴

Surprise hurries the breath, & it seems to me one can breathe, at least hurriedly, much quieter through the open mouth than through the nose. I saw the other day you doubted this.⁵ As olfaction is your province at present, I think breathing through the nose ought to come within it likewise—so do pray consider this point & let me hear your judgment.—⁶ Consider the nose to be a flower to be fertilised, & then you will make out all about it.⁷

I have had to allude to your paper on “Sense of Smell”—is the Paging right, viz 1, 2, 3?⁸ If not I protest by all the Gods against the plan followed by some of having presentation copies falsely paged; & so does Rolleston, as he wrote to me the other day.—⁹

In Haste | yours very sincerely | C. Darwin