Translation (abbreviated) of some of my annotations on Darwin’s “Expression in man and animals”²

p. 102, Chapter IV, “I am not aware that there is any evidence in favour of this view”³

I find in Prof. Hartings “Leerboek van de Grondbeginselen der Dierkunde” 1); Deel II, Afdeeling 2, p. 248, that the arrectores, by which the feathers of the birds are erected, are striped muscles, like the voluntary.

1) Learning-book of the Principles of Zoology, vol. II, section 2, p. 248⁴

p. 104, Chapter IV. Origin of the Words for toad; they certainly in all European languages don’t express the habit of swelling. Professor Juynbol⁵ in Delft (Holland) informs me, as follows:

The Baskian (Basque) apoa (toad) comes from apal, little, and hoa, to go. The Russian sjaba does not come from a root, signifying to swell   In the Semitic languages I can find no root for toad, signifying to swell; all the words in these languages rather signify, something that springs around. The Javanese and Malaian languages also don’t give words with the root to swell. As to the Romanic languages of Europe Prof. Juynbol quotes Dietz, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Romanischen Sprachen, who says (in voce crapaud) “Crapaud” franz., provenç crapaut grapaut, catalan. gripan, limousinisch gropal. (für grapal) Kröte. Von crepare, das berstende? d.h. zum bersten sich blähende Thier? Allein warum als dann nicht deutlich crevaud? Richtiger leiten es andere vom Engl. to creep; .... . . zu erwähnen ist auch Picardisch crapeux, als adj. schmutzig .... franz. graisse crasse.

“Sapo” Spanisch, Portug. Kröte, nach Span. etymologen vom Griech. σήψ, σηπός art giftiger Schlangen oder Eidechsen, auch Latein. seps “Rospo” Italien. Kröte vielleicht zusammen hängend nat. raspo, rauh.

“botta” Italien. Altfranz. botte, auch boz Kröte, … scheint aus Deutscher wurzel in bôzen, stoßen, treiben, so das es das aufgetriebene Thier bezeichnete. Auch Span. boto, adj. stümpf⁶

I find in Webster’s Dictionary of the Engl. language, last Edition that he derivates the English toad (and the names of that animal in Anglo-Saxon, Danish, Swedish) from the Islandian lad, dung.⁷

page 108, Chapt. IV. footnote 30. Is not Ichneumon the name of the Egyptian species of Herpestes?⁸

p. 116, Chapt. V. “To have his back up” Is it not rather derivated from the appearance of any angry cat, than from that of a hostile dog?

p. 121 “Grinning” in dogs. Can it not be a bad imitation of human laughter, as barking perhaps of speech?

p. 135 Cynopith. niger. I can, I believe, recognise the expression as one of pleasure   It can be, that it is because I have read in your book it was one of pleasure, at the same time that I saw the engraving.⁹ It seems to me a bad kind of voluptuous laughter.

p. 202. Laughter Conferatur the speech of D^r Ewald Hecker 16 Aug. 72 in the meeting of German naturalists and physicians. You can find it in “Naturforscher” of October or Nov. 1872¹⁰

p. 216. Origin of kissing. I have read but don’t remember where, the origin of kissing was in the Roman women being not allowed to drink wine, and the husbands coming home ascertaining by kissing them, if they had not done so. Cannot be true because Homer mentions kissing, and he is older than the foundation of Rome.¹¹

p. 221 The Egyptians (old), when praying stretched their arms benched before them palms of hand above (see bad drawing here)

expressing so the action of giving something to a person placed above us. I saw them in that position engraved on the walls of the old Temples in Egypt long the Nile. Remarked also that Arabs in Upper Egypt did not understand my shaking no and very little my nodding yes.

In Tour du monde some years ago I remarked an engraving representing praying Bouddhists in India. All had palms of the hands joined like we and fingers of one hand through interstices of fingers of other hand like we.¹²

I read in Lucretius, Lib. V. v. 1199—“Nec procumbere humi prostratum et pandere palmas”

“Ante Deum delubra” (se pietas est)¹³

Can this not be kneeling with upturned hands and joined palms? In Catholicism there is much of the old Roman religion in the forms, see beautiful novel of Charles Reade “the Cloister and the Hearth”.¹⁴

In “Album der Natuur” 1856, p. 15 I find an engraving of a Babylonian basrelief, discovered by Layard, representing Jewish prisoners of War from Lachish (II Kings XVIII), found in the palace of Sennacherib in Kouyunjik.¹⁵ One of them is completely in our position of devotion and occupied in dare manus¹⁶ to signify his submission.

p. 249 “In such cases etc.”¹⁷ The negro fights with his hard head, like a he-goat with his horns. I saw this summer in New York a white actor, who played for a negro, and made this gesture so comically, that the auditorium laughed and applauded violently. Can this not be origin of protrusion of head in fighting, like clenching fists only common to races who fight with fists.

p. 252 exposition of canine. I myself can expose voluntarily my left canine very strongly and involuntarily and unconsciously do so under very trifling emotions. On the right side, I cannot do it, but both canines together I can.

p. 256 Derivation of the word scorn in Websters dict. last ed.¹⁸ it is derivated from French écorner, escorner, escorne, deprive some one of his horns

p. 257 “Smear of soup on a man’s beard” I believe it looks dirty because it remembers us saliva or mucus from the nose in a man’s beard.

p. 259 Vomiting. The old director of the Gardens of acclimatation” of the Hague¹⁹ told me that a young giraffe, having broken his leg was killed and a peace of the meat sent to a family, saying it was meat of a stag. They eat it and find it very excellent, in the evening our director comes on a visit and tells the meat was not of a stag but of a giraffe. What is that asked a lady. The director explicates. “What that ugly yellow beast! exclaims the lady and begins vomiting very violently.

disgust of unusual food to be seen in the disgust of our Dutch people for horse-meat.

p. 266 The rubbing of the thumb against the fingers as an expression of impatience, does not seem to me so very peculiar. I often in myself remarked it, but chiefly the fifth, fourth (annular) and third (middle) finger, being rubbed against thumb with somewhat snapping movement. I explain it thus: under impatience there exists a desire of doing something, for that you must wait, and that you will do, when waiting is over. By this desire nerve force is already liberated and flows, not yet being used for the intended action, along accustomed channels and causes some useless movement. Now fingers are of the most used of all parts of body; channels to fingers are thus very accustomed channels   In the same manner impatience is often expressed by drumming with the fingers on the table, trampling with the feet etc. Under impatience of hearing (not of doing) something association works and the gesture is still performed.

p. 277. Question at the end of Chapt XI. In the Far West of United States I repeatedly observed (1872) Indian women bearing her child on her back, bound on a peace of wood, making every movement very difficult. In some parts of the world the heads of the children are deformed by binding them between peaces of lumber²⁰   In how far can such habits, as impeaching movement, influence the signs of negation and affirmation, when they have realy the origin suspected by Darwin?

p 251 (Chapt X). Sardonic smile. Some derivate this expression from the Greek σαίρεω, to grin like a dog²¹ (Webster). By this is proved, that you are not the first, who remarked the resemblance between a Sardonic smile, discovering the canine in sneering (In Dutch we call it “den neus ophalen” to draw up the nose) and the snarling of a dog. This is prooved also by the French expressions rire canin and spasme cynique (Engl. cynic spasm” Italian spasimo cinica, Spanish espasmo cinico) and the German Hundskrampf. Rire canin is synonimous with rire sardonique ou moqueur²² (Dict. de Médécine, Littré et Robin).²³ Spasme cynique and the German Hundskrampf signify a spasmodic movement of the muscles of the cheek, by which the lips are drawn from another in such a manner, that the teeth are discovered (Littré et Robin ibid.) The muscle, by which sneering is effected (snarling muscle) has also the name of cynic muscle (musculus caninus). All from Latin canis a dog, Greek κυων a dog.

p. 333., 334. Consciousness of a fault before God does not excite blushing. Conferatur Ezra as quoted p. 322²⁴

p. 336 Shakespeare may be defended because in darkness there exists no colour, because colour is not something inherent to the objects, but only vibrations of aether of a determined amplitude.²⁵ Where no aether is vibrating, there also is absolutely no colour. The blush of Julia could exist but hardly bepaint her cheek in darkness. The case is the same, as it appears to me, as in very dark-coloured races. I confess, my defence of Shakespeare is very spesious, but I say only S. might be defended   I could say also: vibrating aether is not yet colour, colour is the impression, that the human of animal mind receives, from beams of vibrating aether broken in the eye.²⁶ Where no eye is present, that perceives, or where the present eye cannot perceive (for darkness or some other cause) there also is absolutely no colour

p. 365 “If man had breathed water by ext. branch”. No animal breathes water, but only the air dissolved in the water

p. 367 specific or sub-specific unity of the several races. This would mean, as it appears to me, that all races together were one species or even one sub-species. You will apparently say: the belief, that the several varieties of man are races or sub-species, belonging altogether to one and the same species, and therefore not different species.

Three first chapters

p. 36. Reflex actions in decapitated frog. Conferantur the experiences of Brown Seq. and Charles Robin on decapitated men, Revue des deux Mondes 15 Janvier 1870 p. 399–402 and Fecquier, l’Année scientifique, 1869 p. 469; also on goose-skin as a reflex-action²⁷

p. 47, picking up of chickens started into action by the sense of hearing”²⁸

Conferantur experiences of D. A Spalding communicated by him in the British Association f. t. adv. of science.²⁹