Ɛpsilon

To John Medows Rodwell   15 October [1860]1

15 Marine Parade | Eastbourne

Oct. 15th.

Dear Sir

I am truly obliged for your interesting letter.2 I am very far from being surprised at anyone not accepting my conclusions on the origin of species; as the argument rests almost solely on the view explaining & grouping phenomena, otherwise inexplicable. I have some confidence that I am in the main right; for I find it as yet a universal rule, that those naturalists who go a little way with me, the more they reflect on the subject the further they go.— I am at work on my larger work, but ill-health & other interruptions make my progress very slow.—3 Your remarks on language seem to me very striking; & the “struggle for life” with words is quite new to me.— I had often thought that a striking resemblance might be traced in the genesis of words & species; but was much too ignorant to attempt it.—4 It was done to a certain extent some 4 or 5 or 6 months ago in the Cornhill Magazine by Lewes in one of his Zoological papers.—5 Could you not publish an essay on the subject?

I have been particularly interested by your case of the Horses. I have somewhere read a nearly parallel case. I am sorry to give you trouble; but I shd. very much like to know whether the case was published; & if you can give me any further particulars; such as how many Horses were affected; how soon they recovered &c.—6 Prof. Wyman has sent me an analogous case with respect to pigs in Florida: he was surprised at seeing them all black; & he found that they eat a certain root, which injures & kills the white pigs, but does not hurt the black; & the farmers added, “we help it by selection, for we kill the young white pigs”.—7

It is not white cats, but white cats with blue eyes, which are deaf,—if one eye is blue the cat is deaf on that one side—if your cat has distinctly blue eyes & is not deaf, I shd. be particularly obliged for the fact, as it will be the sole exception which I have heard of.—8

Pray accept my best thanks for your interesting letter & with respect, I beg leave to remain | Dear Sir | yours faithfully & obliged | Charles Darwin | of Down, Bromley, Kent

I shall be here for about 10 days9

1
The year is established by the relationship between this letter and the letter from J. M. Rodwell, 31 October 1860 (Correspondence vol. 8).
2
Rodwell’s letter has not been found.
3
CD was working on the manuscript of Variation, the first part of what was intended as a three-part work explaining in greater detail the operation of natural selection; the other two parts were never published. See Correspondence vol. 8, Appendix II and n. 1.
4
Rodwell made translations from Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic, and Coptic; he planned to write a book on the ‘birth, life, and death of words’ (see Correspondence vol. 8, letter to J. M. Rodwell, 5 November [1860]), but apparently it was never published. On the application of CD’s theories to language, see Alter 1999.
5
CD refers to George Henry Lewes and Lewes 1860, pp. 445–7.
6
Rodwell’s answer was in the portion of his letter of 31 October 1860 (Correspondence vol. 8) that is now missing; see ibid., letter to J. M. Rodwell, 5 November [1860]. CD gave Rodwell’s information in Variation 2: 337: The Rev. J. Rodwell informs me that his father turned out about fifteen cart-horses into a field of tares which in parts swarmed with black aphides, and which no doubt were honeydewed, and probably mildewed; the horses, with two exceptions, were chesnuts and bays with white marks on their faces and pasterns, and the white parts alone swelled and became angry scabs. The two bay horses with no white marks entirely escaped all injury.
7
Asa Gray had sent CD information from Jeffries Wyman on the black pigs of Florida, which was later confirmed by Wyman himself (see letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860], and letter from Jeffries Wyman, [c. 15] September 1860). The case was given in Origin 3d ed., p. 12, and in Variation 2: 227, 336, where the pigs were incorrectly said to live in Virginia.
8
CD discussed the correlation between blue eyes and deafness in cats in Origin, pp. 12 and 144, where he stated that the connection was invariable. In Origin 3d ed., p. 12, he altered the text to state that cats with blue eyes were ‘generally’ deaf. He discussed the topic again in Variation 2: 329. In Variation CD mentioned, without citing Rodwell’s case, that he had since heard of a few exceptions to the rule. See also Correspondence vol. 8, letter from J. M. Rodwell, 31 October 1860.
9
The Darwins stayed at Eastbourne from 22 September to 10 November 1860 in the hope that a stay at the seaside would improve Henrietta Emma Darwin’s health (Correspondence vol. 8, Appendix II, and letter to G. V. Reed, 15 September [1860]; their stay was prolonged by Henrietta’s attack of sickness on 22 October (ibid., letter to John Innes, 26 October [1860]).

Manuscript Alterations and Comments

1.3 almost] interl
1.3 explaining] after del ‘given’
1.10 much] interl

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-2950F,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-2950F