From Marie McElroy 1 April 1881
Clydehaugh House, | Glasgow.
1st. April, 1881.
Sir,
From my limited observations of animals I concluded that, the lower animals have no blue eyes. Since then, in reading your able work.—The Origin of Species.—I noticed that in speaking of cats, you said, that, “white cats with blue eyes are always deaf”.1
Is it an anomaly in nature to find blue eyes in cats? Are blue eyes peculiar to the human species?2
Sir, I have the honour to be, | Respectfully yours, | Marie Mc.Elroy.
Footnotes
Bibliography
Origin 4th ed.: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. 4th edition, with additions and corrections. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1866.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Variation: The variation of animals and plants under domestication. By Charles Darwin. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1868.
Summary
Asks whether blue eyes are peculiar to the human species.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-13105
- From
- Mary (Marie) McElroy
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Glasgow
- Source of text
- DAR 201: 23
- Physical description
- ALS 2pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 13105,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-13105.xml
