Inherited instinct, p. 281 in Nature, Vol. 7, No. 172, February 13, 1873

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First edition, complete journal issue in original printed wrappers, of this letter by Darwin, in which he comments on a letter from his friend the astronomer William Higgins, which gives an account of Huggins's dog Kepler's fear of butcher's shops. Huggins tells Darwin further that Kepler's father and paternal grandfather suffered from the same fear. Huggins concludes that the cause of Kepler's anxiety cannot be found in the dog's own past, rather his fear of butchers has been inherited. Darwin informs us, "Unfortunately it is not known how the feeling first arose in the grandfather of Dr. Huggins's dog. We may suspect that it was due to some ill-treatment; but it may have originated without any assignable cause, as with certain animals in the Zoological Gardens, which, as I am assured by Mr. Bartlett, have taken a strong hatred to him and others without any provocation." Darwin's rather surprising conclusion is that instinctual behaviours may arise out of "habit and the experience of their utility" (like the fear of people which he claims to have instilled in some otherwise oblivious island birds) while others may just appear somewhat randomly. Ultimately, however, these behaviours can supposedly be passed down to offspring and live on through a lineage of animals. These inherited instincts may or may not be acted upon by selection, be it natural selection, or as in Darwin's stated example of the tumbler-pigeon, artificial. Darwin insists that the accompanying letter from Huggins affords an excellent and unique example of inherited instinct. 8vo, pp. lvii-lviii, 277-96, lxi-lx. Original printed wrappers. N° de ref. del artículo ABE-1475942535146

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