Postscript 1

As you are staying at M^r Darwins just repeat to him the 3 or 4 Incidents which crossed my mind when reading his interesting book on Expression of Animals—when at Kew—

As you may however have probably forgotten them I will tell them as briefly as possible.

The first subject was relating to my having tried, a few years ago, to mesmerize (or whatever it might be called) my Pet dog.

Having heard it was necessary in mesmerism to fix ones eyes on the eyes of the living object about to be worked on, I tried it, (tho’ merely as a joke not expecting any result) on my Dog (a Retriever) just before I was going to unchain him for a walk, so calling his attention I approached him & then suddenly stood motionless with my eyes fixed on his eyes & he stood as if fixed to the ground also perfectly motionless never taking his eyes off me, when in a few minutes he began to shiver & tremble until I observed his hair & tail gradually rising—then his upper lips, when he suddenly made a savage rush at me & had I been within his reach, would undoubtedly have bitten me, but the moment I relaxed my position & called him by his name he was suddenly subdued & then crouched at my feet as if sorry at having rushed at me!!

The other case related to my poor wife² who had been subject occasionally to a sort of numbness in her face, supposed to have arisen from pressure on some nerves.

She could invariably foretell an attack coming on by a peculiar sensation in her hair on combing it—a sort of rough bristly feel about it, tho’ at other times her hair was peculiarly soft.—³

Lastly respecting Birds, but very trifling what I observed at Bottisham—

We had several coveys of very tame Partridges & I invariably observed that on a fine warm still day when they were lying down in the park, they would one after the other every now & then jump up into the air & then take a little circuitous run & squat down again.— Moreover this peculiar jump & circuitous skirmish ‘I have often observed in a Farmyard among young Pigs & chickens’ on fine days all to express joy I suppose’   The same joy as I have seen with young birds—i.e. a young Rook hopping about the Park on the grass suddenly flapping its wings or its Mother arriving with some dainty morsel’⁴