Ɛpsilon

From L. C. Wedgwood   [5 May 1870]1

I can perceive no difference between the motion of the horses ears when he turns them before kicking, and when he turns them for any other reason, (except fear which is different)2

I think you wanted to know about the babys brows.

When vext at anything & crying (without tears) he does straighten his eyebrows, raising the inner corner a very little

diagram

What is most conspicuous is a pucker on the bridge of the nose and 2 lines sloping across the forehead something like that. I have seen the same thing when he has been dazzled in the sunshine too.3

My worms have not turned up any earth since I enclosed them4

I am with many thanks for yr. letter | yr. afft. niece | Lucy Wedgwood

incomplete

CD annotations

1.1 I can … different) 1.3] crossed pencil
2.1 I think … brows.] ‘(10 months)’ pencil
3.3 What … forehead 3.4] ‘Pyramidalis must here act if possible so as to smooth forehead’ pencil
4.1 My … letter 5.1] crossed pencil
Top of letter: ‘May 5— 1870’ pencil
1
The date is established by CD’s annotation.
3
In Expression, pp. 147–54, CD discussed facial expressions associated with crying in infants, but did not mention Wedgwood. The baby Wedgwood observed may have been her nephew, Hervey Wedgwood Williams.
4
A short notice on worms pulling stones to cover their burrows, written by Wedgwood, had appeared in Gardeners’ Chronicle in 1868 (see Correspondence vol. 16, letter to M. T. Masters, 21 March [1868] and n. 2).

Please cite as “DCP-LETT-7179,” in Ɛpsilon: The Charles Darwin Collection accessed on 5 June 2025, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/dcp-data/letters/DCP-LETT-7179