From C. S. Bate 22 October 1871
Plymouth
Oct 22. 71
My dear Mr Darwin
If what I saw in the newspaper the other day be correct as to the work you are at present engaged on, the accompanying annecdote may be useful1 I had it told to me by two persons, my brother & his son, who heard it from Mr. Whatford himself. who is an old surgeon who practised as a dentist & still lives I believe—2
Would annecdotes of this kind be useful to you
Believe me | faithfully yours C. Spence Bate
Mr Whatford who still lives in Brighton—Western road—says that a person came one day to him as a dental patient & once finished asked Mr Whatford if he could do anything for his dog.
The dog had been suffering from toothache. & Mr Whatford put the dog up in his operating chair & took out the tooth— Some time after the same dog had toothache again & he left the man servant with whom he was & came in at the door of Mr Whatfords house & went into the room & got into the operating chair & of his own accord had another tooth out. This surpasses the moral courage of many persons—
Footnotes
Summary
Has read in papers about CD’s forthcoming work [Expression]; sends anecdote about a dog visiting a dentist for relief of a toothache – thus showing "moral courage".
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8027
- From
- Charles Spence Bate
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Plymouth
- Source of text
- DAR 160: 57
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8027,” accessed on 25 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8027.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 19