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To W. E. Darwin   [15 March 1868]1

My dear William.

If you to go to the blind establishment at Worcester,2 let me hear soon whether you can find out anything positively about blushing; for I will not write to Bowman3 till I hear from you.—

I can think of no other arbitrator.—

May I talk under sea[l] of secrecy of the affair with your mother—4

Ever your affect | C. D.

Sunday. 4 Chester Pl. N.W. 5

Elephants shed tears copiously, & when they trumpet or scream loudly, I saw today at Z. Gardens, that they invariably & strongly contract “orbicularis palpellatum”.— this is fine case.—6

Attend to your capital observation on yawning & corners of mouth—7

Footnotes

1
The date is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter to W. E. Darwin, 21 March [1868] and by the dates of CD’s stay at 4 Chester Place, London (see n. 5, below). In 1868, the Sunday preceding 21 March was 15 March.
2
Worcester College for Blind Sons of Gentlemen (Post Office directory of Birmingham 1868).
4
See letters to W. E. Darwin, 21 March [1868] and 25 March [1868].
5
CD and Emma stayed at Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood’s house in London from 11 March to 1 April 1868 (Emma Darwin’s diary (DAR 242)).
6
CD described the elephant at the Zoological Gardens, Regent’s Park, London, in Expression, pp. 167–8. Obicularis palpellatum: a mistake for orbicularis palpebrarum, orbicular muscles of the eyes.
7
There is a note dated 14 March 1868 in DAR 160: 97 containing William’s observations of the shape and movement of the mouth during a suppressed yawn.

Bibliography

Expression: The expression of the emotions in man and animals. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1872.

Post Office directory of Birmingham: Post Office directory of Birmingham, Warwickshire, and part of Staffordshire. Kelly’s directory of Birmingham, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and Worcestershire. London: W. Kelly; Kelly & Co. 1845–1928.

Summary

Asks WED to observe blushing in the blind, and yawning.

Mentions elephants’ crying while trumpeting.

Letter details

Letter no.
DCP-LETT-6067
From
Charles Robert Darwin
To
William Erasmus Darwin
Sent from
London, Chester Place, 4
Source of text
DAR 210.6: 127
Physical description
ALS 2pp

Please cite as

Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 6067,” accessed on 8 September 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-6067.xml

Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16

letter

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