To Arthur Nicols [20 March 1873]1
[16 Montague Street, London]
The experiments on the sense of smell in cats and dogs seem to me very good.2 From your previous note, I know you do not believe in the stories of cats returning home over unknown ground; but if such a case is mentioned in Nature, I would suggest your sending your experiment to that journal for publication, as bearing on Mr. Wallace’s theory, which I am half inclined to admit.3
Footnotes
Bibliography
Calendar: A calendar of the correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821–1882. With supplement. 2d edition. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1994.
Nicols, Arthur. 1885. Natural history sketches among the Carnivora wild and domesticated: with observations on their habits and mental faculties. London: L. Upcott Gill.
Summary
Responds to AN’s observations on sense of smell in cats and dogs.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-8817G
- From
- Charles Robert Darwin
- To
- Robert Arthur (Arthur) Nicols
- Sent from
- London
- Source of text
- Nicols 1885, p. 52
- Physical description
- ALS
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 8817G,” accessed on 18 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-8817G.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 21
