From W. E. Darwin [13 April 1868]1
Southampton
Monday
My dear Father,
I watched today a child of about 5 very gradually change from cheerfulness up to the very verge of squalling, and then back again by up & downs to cheerfulness, so that I saw the change come over its face at least 3 times. it was a plump face so that the contraction of the depressor quite wrinkled the skin on each side of the chin, & the contraction of little Zygomatic cause quite a deep little groove on each side of the nose, so that it was an easy face to observe. I am perfectly certain that the depressor began acting first, and left off acting last; and after it had contracted a good deal so as to be in a good horse shoe the zygomatics began acting strongly, but I could not be certain that they pulled up the corners at all, I do not see that that is necessary to determine, because I saw that they both could act perfectly together, for directly the child felt it was in the order for crying there came another contraction simultaneously of the depressores & of the Zygomatics I do not think the child actually made a noise, and the mouth was of this shape roughly. The child seemed at first to be rather wishing to cry for pity, and afterwards when scolded to try to stop.
I could not watch the eyebrows but I saw tolerably another boy (of about 4) in same way beginning crying & I am pretty sure the eyebrows became oblique, at all events the eyebrows were not lowering & there was a contraction at inner corner of each, but I will look again2
your affect son WED
I write to confirm Langstaff, whom I have not seen yet3
Footnotes
Summary
Action of facial muscles at onset of crying.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5965
- From
- William Erasmus Darwin
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Southampton
- Source of text
- DAR 162: 98
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5965,” accessed on 30 November 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5965.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 16