diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/2010.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2010.txt | 2478 |
1 files changed, 2478 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/old/2010.txt b/old/2010.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2eafbf0 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/2010.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2478 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, by Charles Darwin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Autobiography of Charles Darwin + From The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin + +Author: Charles Darwin + +Editor: [Charles Darwin's son] Francis Darwin + +Posting Date: September 21, 2008 [EBook #2010] +Release Date: December, 1999 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DARWIN *** + + + + +Produced by Sue Asscher + + + + + +THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES DARWIN + +From The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin + +By Charles Darwin + +Edited by his Son Francis Darwin + + + +[My father's autobiographical recollections, given in the present +chapter, were written for his children,--and written without any +thought that they would ever be published. To many this may seem an +impossibility; but those who knew my father will understand how it was +not only possible, but natural. The autobiography bears the heading, +'Recollections of the Development of my Mind and Character,' and end +with the following note:--"Aug. 3, 1876. This sketch of my life was +begun about May 28th at Hopedene (Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood's house in +Surrey.), and since then I have written for nearly an hour on most +afternoons." It will easily be understood that, in a narrative of a +personal and intimate kind written for his wife and children, passages +should occur which must here be omitted; and I have not thought it +necessary to indicate where such omissions are made. It has been found +necessary to make a few corrections of obvious verbal slips, but the +number of such alterations has been kept down to the minimum.--F.D.] + + + +A German Editor having written to me for an account of the development +of my mind and character with some sketch of my autobiography, I have +thought that the attempt would amuse me, and might possibly interest +my children or their children. I know that it would have interested me +greatly to have read even so short and dull a sketch of the mind of my +grandfather, written by himself, and what he thought and did, and how he +worked. I have attempted to write the following account of myself, as if +I were a dead man in another world looking back at my own life. Nor have +I found this difficult, for life is nearly over with me. I have taken no +pains about my style of writing. + +I was born at Shrewsbury on February 12th, 1809, and my earliest +recollection goes back only to when I was a few months over four years +old, when we went to near Abergele for sea-bathing, and I recollect some +events and places there with some little distinctness. + +My mother died in July 1817, when I was a little over eight years old, +and it is odd that I can remember hardly anything about her except +her death-bed, her black velvet gown, and her curiously constructed +work-table. In the spring of this same year I was sent to a day-school +in Shrewsbury, where I stayed a year. I have been told that I was much +slower in learning than my younger sister Catherine, and I believe that +I was in many ways a naughty boy. + +By the time I went to this day-school (Kept by Rev. G. Case, minister of +the Unitarian Chapel in the High Street. Mrs. Darwin was a Unitarian +and attended Mr. Case's chapel, and my father as a little boy went there +with his elder sisters. But both he and his brother were christened and +intended to belong to the Church of England; and after his early boyhood +he seems usually to have gone to church and not to Mr. Case's. It +appears ("St. James' Gazette", Dec. 15, 1883) that a mural tablet has +been erected to his memory in the chapel, which is now known as the +'Free Christian Church.') my taste for natural history, and more +especially for collecting, was well developed. I tried to make out +the names of plants (Rev. W.A. Leighton, who was a schoolfellow of my +father's at Mr. Case's school, remembers his bringing a flower to school +and saying that his mother had taught him how by looking at the inside +of the blossom the name of the plant could be discovered. Mr. Leighton +goes on, "This greatly roused my attention and curiosity, and I enquired +of him repeatedly how this could be done?"--but his lesson was naturally +enough not transmissible.--F.D.), and collected all sorts of things, +shells, seals, franks, coins, and minerals. The passion for collecting +which leads a man to be a systematic naturalist, a virtuoso, or a miser, +was very strong in me, and was clearly innate, as none of my sisters or +brother ever had this taste. + +One little event during this year has fixed itself very firmly in my +mind, and I hope that it has done so from my conscience having been +afterwards sorely troubled by it; it is curious as showing that +apparently I was interested at this early age in the variability of +plants! I told another little boy (I believe it was Leighton, who +afterwards became a well-known lichenologist and botanist), that I could +produce variously coloured polyanthuses and primroses by watering them +with certain coloured fluids, which was of course a monstrous fable, and +had never been tried by me. I may here also confess that as a little boy +I was much given to inventing deliberate falsehoods, and this was always +done for the sake of causing excitement. For instance, I once gathered +much valuable fruit from my father's trees and hid it in the shrubbery, +and then ran in breathless haste to spread the news that I had +discovered a hoard of stolen fruit. + +I must have been a very simple little fellow when I first went to the +school. A boy of the name of Garnett took me into a cake shop one day, +and bought some cakes for which he did not pay, as the shopman trusted +him. When we came out I asked him why he did not pay for them, and he +instantly answered, "Why, do you not know that my uncle left a great +sum of money to the town on condition that every tradesman should give +whatever was wanted without payment to any one who wore his old hat and +moved [it] in a particular manner?" and he then showed me how it was +moved. He then went into another shop where he was trusted, and asked +for some small article, moving his hat in the proper manner, and of +course obtained it without payment. When we came out he said, "Now if +you like to go by yourself into that cake-shop (how well I remember its +exact position) I will lend you my hat, and you can get whatever you +like if you move the hat on your head properly." I gladly accepted the +generous offer, and went in and asked for some cakes, moved the old hat +and was walking out of the shop, when the shopman made a rush at me, so +I dropped the cakes and ran for dear life, and was astonished by being +greeted with shouts of laughter by my false friend Garnett. + +I can say in my own favour that I was as a boy humane, but I owed this +entirely to the instruction and example of my sisters. I doubt indeed +whether humanity is a natural or innate quality. I was very fond of +collecting eggs, but I never took more than a single egg out of a bird's +nest, except on one single occasion, when I took all, not for their +value, but from a sort of bravado. + +I had a strong taste for angling, and would sit for any number of hours +on the bank of a river or pond watching the float; when at Maer (The +house of his uncle, Josiah Wedgwood.) I was told that I could kill the +worms with salt and water, and from that day I never spitted a living +worm, though at the expense probably of some loss of success. + +Once as a very little boy whilst at the day school, or before that time, +I acted cruelly, for I beat a puppy, I believe, simply from enjoying +the sense of power; but the beating could not have been severe, for +the puppy did not howl, of which I feel sure, as the spot was near +the house. This act lay heavily on my conscience, as is shown by my +remembering the exact spot where the crime was committed. It probably +lay all the heavier from my love of dogs being then, and for a long time +afterwards, a passion. Dogs seemed to know this, for I was an adept in +robbing their love from their masters. + +I remember clearly only one other incident during this year whilst at +Mr. Case's daily school,--namely, the burial of a dragoon soldier; and +it is surprising how clearly I can still see the horse with the man's +empty boots and carbine suspended to the saddle, and the firing over the +grave. This scene deeply stirred whatever poetic fancy there was in me. + +In the summer of 1818 I went to Dr. Butler's great school in Shrewsbury, +and remained there for seven years still Midsummer 1825, when I was +sixteen years old. I boarded at this school, so that I had the great +advantage of living the life of a true schoolboy; but as the distance +was hardly more than a mile to my home, I very often ran there in the +longer intervals between the callings over and before locking up at +night. This, I think, was in many ways advantageous to me by keeping up +home affections and interests. I remember in the early part of my school +life that I often had to run very quickly to be in time, and from being +a fleet runner was generally successful; but when in doubt I prayed +earnestly to God to help me, and I well remember that I attributed my +success to the prayers and not to my quick running, and marvelled how +generally I was aided. + +I have heard my father and elder sister say that I had, as a very young +boy, a strong taste for long solitary walks; but what I thought about I +know not. I often became quite absorbed, and once, whilst returning to +school on the summit of the old fortifications round Shrewsbury, which +had been converted into a public foot-path with no parapet on one side, +I walked off and fell to the ground, but the height was only seven or +eight feet. Nevertheless the number of thoughts which passed through my +mind during this very short, but sudden and wholly unexpected fall, was +astonishing, and seem hardly compatible with what physiologists have, I +believe, proved about each thought requiring quite an appreciable amount +of time. + +Nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind than +Dr. Butler's school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being +taught, except a little ancient geography and history. The school as a +means of education to me was simply a blank. During my whole life I have +been singularly incapable of mastering any language. Especial attention +was paid to verse-making, and this I could never do well. I had many +friends, and got together a good collection of old verses, which by +patching together, sometimes aided by other boys, I could work into any +subject. Much attention was paid to learning by heart the lessons of the +previous day; this I could effect with great facility, learning forty or +fifty lines of Virgil or Homer, whilst I was in morning chapel; but +this exercise was utterly useless, for every verse was forgotten +in forty-eight hours. I was not idle, and with the exception of +versification, generally worked conscientiously at my classics, not +using cribs. The sole pleasure I ever received from such studies, was +from some of the odes of Horace, which I admired greatly. + +When I left the school I was for my age neither high nor low in it; and +I believe that I was considered by all my masters and by my father as a +very ordinary boy, rather below the common standard in intellect. To my +deep mortification my father once said to me, "You care for nothing but +shooting, dogs, and rat-catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself +and all your family." But my father, who was the kindest man I ever +knew and whose memory I love with all my heart, must have been angry and +somewhat unjust when he used such words. + +Looking back as well as I can at my character during my school life, the +only qualities which at this period promised well for the future, +were, that I had strong and diversified tastes, much zeal for whatever +interested me, and a keen pleasure in understanding any complex subject +or thing. I was taught Euclid by a private tutor, and I distinctly +remember the intense satisfaction which the clear geometrical proofs +gave me. I remember, with equal distinctness, the delight which my uncle +gave me (the father of Francis Galton) by explaining the principle +of the vernier of a barometer with respect to diversified tastes, +independently of science, I was fond of reading various books, and +I used to sit for hours reading the historical plays of Shakespeare, +generally in an old window in the thick walls of the school. I read also +other poetry, such as Thomson's 'Seasons,' and the recently published +poems of Byron and Scott. I mention this because later in life I +wholly lost, to my great regret, all pleasure from poetry of any kind, +including Shakespeare. In connection with pleasure from poetry, I may +add that in 1822 a vivid delight in scenery was first awakened in my +mind, during a riding tour on the borders of Wales, and this has lasted +longer than any other aesthetic pleasure. + +Early in my school days a boy had a copy of the 'Wonders of the World,' +which I often read, and disputed with other boys about the veracity of +some of the statements; and I believe that this book first gave me a +wish to travel in remote countries, which was ultimately fulfilled +by the voyage of the "Beagle". In the latter part of my school life +I became passionately fond of shooting; I do not believe that any +one could have shown more zeal for the most holy cause than I did for +shooting birds. How well I remember killing my first snipe, and my +excitement was so great that I had much difficulty in reloading my gun +from the trembling of my hands. This taste long continued, and I became +a very good shot. When at Cambridge I used to practise throwing up my +gun to my shoulder before a looking-glass to see that I threw it up +straight. Another and better plan was to get a friend to wave about a +lighted candle, and then to fire at it with a cap on the nipple, and if +the aim was accurate the little puff of air would blow out the candle. +The explosion of the cap caused a sharp crack, and I was told that the +tutor of the college remarked, "What an extraordinary thing it is, Mr. +Darwin seems to spend hours in cracking a horse-whip in his room, for I +often hear the crack when I pass under his windows." + +I had many friends amongst the schoolboys, whom I loved dearly, and I +think that my disposition was then very affectionate. + +With respect to science, I continued collecting minerals with much zeal, +but quite unscientifically--all that I cared about was a new-_named_ +mineral, and I hardly attempted to classify them. I must have observed +insects with some little care, for when ten years old (1819) I went for +three weeks to Plas Edwards on the sea-coast in Wales, I was very much +interested and surprised at seeing a large black and scarlet Hemipterous +insect, many moths (Zygaena), and a Cicindela which are not found in +Shropshire. I almost made up my mind to begin collecting all the insects +which I could find dead, for on consulting my sister I concluded that it +was not right to kill insects for the sake of making a collection. From +reading White's 'Selborne,' I took much pleasure in watching the +habits of birds, and even made notes on the subject. In my simplicity I +remember wondering why every gentleman did not become an ornithologist. + +Towards the close of my school life, my brother worked hard at +chemistry, and made a fair laboratory with proper apparatus in the +tool-house in the garden, and I was allowed to aid him as a servant in +most of his experiments. He made all the gases and many compounds, and +I read with great care several books on chemistry, such as Henry and +Parkes' 'Chemical Catechism.' The subject interested me greatly, and we +often used to go on working till rather late at night. This was the best +part of my education at school, for it showed me practically the meaning +of experimental science. The fact that we worked at chemistry somehow +got known at school, and as it was an unprecedented fact, I was +nicknamed "Gas." I was also once publicly rebuked by the head-master, +Dr. Butler, for thus wasting my time on such useless subjects; and he +called me very unjustly a "poco curante," and as I did not understand +what he meant, it seemed to me a fearful reproach. + +As I was doing no good at school, my father wisely took me away at a +rather earlier age than usual, and sent me (Oct. 1825) to Edinburgh +University with my brother, where I stayed for two years or sessions. My +brother was completing his medical studies, though I do not believe he +ever really intended to practise, and I was sent there to commence +them. But soon after this period I became convinced from various small +circumstances that my father would leave me property enough to subsist +on with some comfort, though I never imagined that I should be so rich a +man as I am; but my belief was sufficient to check any strenuous efforts +to learn medicine. + +The instruction at Edinburgh was altogether by lectures, and these were +intolerably dull, with the exception of those on chemistry by Hope; but +to my mind there are no advantages and many disadvantages in lectures +compared with reading. Dr. Duncan's lectures on Materia Medica at 8 +o'clock on a winter's morning are something fearful to remember. Dr.---- +made his lectures on human anatomy as dull as he was himself, and the +subject disgusted me. It has proved one of the greatest evils in my life +that I was not urged to practise dissection, for I should soon have got +over my disgust; and the practice would have been invaluable for all +my future work. This has been an irremediable evil, as well as my +incapacity to draw. I also attended regularly the clinical wards in the +hospital. Some of the cases distressed me a good deal, and I still have +vivid pictures before me of some of them; but I was not so foolish as to +allow this to lessen my attendance. I cannot understand why this part +of my medical course did not interest me in a greater degree; for during +the summer before coming to Edinburgh I began attending some of the poor +people, chiefly children and women in Shrewsbury: I wrote down as full +an account as I could of the case with all the symptoms, and read them +aloud to my father, who suggested further inquiries and advised me what +medicines to give, which I made up myself. At one time I had at least a +dozen patients, and I felt a keen interest in the work. My father, who +was by far the best judge of character whom I ever knew, declared that +I should make a successful physician,--meaning by this one who would +get many patients. He maintained that the chief element of success was +exciting confidence; but what he saw in me which convinced him that I +should create confidence I know not. I also attended on two occasions +the operating theatre in the hospital at Edinburgh, and saw two very +bad operations, one on a child, but I rushed away before they were +completed. Nor did I ever attend again, for hardly any inducement would +have been strong enough to make me do so; this being long before the +blessed days of chloroform. The two cases fairly haunted me for many a +long year. + +My brother stayed only one year at the University, so that during the +second year I was left to my own resources; and this was an advantage, +for I became well acquainted with several young men fond of natural +science. One of these was Ainsworth, who afterwards published his +travels in Assyria; he was a Wernerian geologist, and knew a little +about many subjects. Dr. Coldstream was a very different young man, +prim, formal, highly religious, and most kind-hearted; he afterwards +published some good zoological articles. A third young man was Hardie, +who would, I think, have made a good botanist, but died early in +India. Lastly, Dr. Grant, my senior by several years, but how I became +acquainted with him I cannot remember; he published some first-rate +zoological papers, but after coming to London as Professor in University +College, he did nothing more in science, a fact which has always been +inexplicable to me. I knew him well; he was dry and formal in manner, +with much enthusiasm beneath this outer crust. He one day, when we were +walking together, burst forth in high admiration of Lamarck and his +views on evolution. I listened in silent astonishment, and as far as +I can judge without any effect on my mind. I had previously read the +'Zoonomia' of my grandfather, in which similar views are maintained, but +without producing any effect on me. Nevertheless it is probable that the +hearing rather early in life such views maintained and praised may +have favoured my upholding them under a different form in my 'Origin of +Species.' At this time I admired greatly the 'Zoonomia;' but on reading +it a second time after an interval of ten or fifteen years, I was much +disappointed; the proportion of speculation being so large to the facts +given. + +Drs. Grant and Coldstream attended much to marine Zoology, and I often +accompanied the former to collect animals in the tidal pools, which I +dissected as well as I could. I also became friends with some of the +Newhaven fishermen, and sometimes accompanied them when they trawled +for oysters, and thus got many specimens. But from not having had any +regular practice in dissection, and from possessing only a wretched +microscope, my attempts were very poor. Nevertheless I made one +interesting little discovery, and read, about the beginning of the year +1826, a short paper on the subject before the Plinian Society. This was +that the so-called ova of Flustra had the power of independent movement +by means of cilia, and were in fact larvae. In another short paper I +showed that the little globular bodies which had been supposed to be +the young state of Fucus loreus were the egg-cases of the wormlike +Pontobdella muricata. + +The Plinian Society was encouraged and, I believe, founded by Professor +Jameson: it consisted of students and met in an underground room in +the University for the sake of reading papers on natural science and +discussing them. I used regularly to attend, and the meetings had a +good effect on me in stimulating my zeal and giving me new congenial +acquaintances. One evening a poor young man got up, and after stammering +for a prodigious length of time, blushing crimson, he at last slowly +got out the words, "Mr. President, I have forgotten what I was going to +say." The poor fellow looked quite overwhelmed, and all the members +were so surprised that no one could think of a word to say to cover his +confusion. The papers which were read to our little society were not +printed, so that I had not the satisfaction of seeing my paper in print; +but I believe Dr. Grant noticed my small discovery in his excellent +memoir on Flustra. + +I was also a member of the Royal Medical Society, and attended pretty +regularly; but as the subjects were exclusively medical, I did not much +care about them. Much rubbish was talked there, but there were some good +speakers, of whom the best was the present Sir J. Kay-Shuttleworth. Dr. +Grant took me occasionally to the meetings of the Wernerian Society, +where various papers on natural history were read, discussed, and +afterwards published in the 'Transactions.' I heard Audubon deliver +there some interesting discourses on the habits of N. American birds, +sneering somewhat unjustly at Waterton. By the way, a negro lived in +Edinburgh, who had travelled with Waterton, and gained his livelihood +by stuffing birds, which he did excellently: he gave me lessons for +payment, and I used often to sit with him, for he was a very pleasant +and intelligent man. + +Mr. Leonard Horner also took me once to a meeting of the Royal Society +of Edinburgh, where I saw Sir Walter Scott in the chair as President, +and he apologised to the meeting as not feeling fitted for such a +position. I looked at him and at the whole scene with some awe and +reverence, and I think it was owing to this visit during my youth, and +to my having attended the Royal Medical Society, that I felt the honour +of being elected a few years ago an honorary member of both these +Societies, more than any other similar honour. If I had been told at +that time that I should one day have been thus honoured, I declare that +I should have thought it as ridiculous and improbable, as if I had been +told that I should be elected King of England. + +During my second year at Edinburgh I attended ----'s lectures on +Geology and Zoology, but they were incredibly dull. The sole effect they +produced on me was the determination never as long as I lived to read +a book on Geology, or in any way to study the science. Yet I feel sure +that I was prepared for a philosophical treatment of the subject; for +an old Mr. Cotton in Shropshire, who knew a good deal about rocks, +had pointed out to me two or three years previously a well-known large +erratic boulder in the town of Shrewsbury, called the "bell-stone"; he +told me that there was no rock of the same kind nearer than Cumberland +or Scotland, and he solemnly assured me that the world would come to an +end before any one would be able to explain how this stone came where +it now lay. This produced a deep impression on me, and I meditated over +this wonderful stone. So that I felt the keenest delight when I first +read of the action of icebergs in transporting boulders, and I gloried +in the progress of Geology. Equally striking is the fact that I, though +now only sixty-seven years old, heard the Professor, in a field lecture +at Salisbury Craigs, discoursing on a trapdyke, with amygdaloidal +margins and the strata indurated on each side, with volcanic rocks all +around us, say that it was a fissure filled with sediment from above, +adding with a sneer that there were men who maintained that it had +been injected from beneath in a molten condition. When I think of this +lecture, I do not wonder that I determined never to attend to Geology. + +From attending ----'s lectures, I became acquainted with the curator +of the museum, Mr. Macgillivray, who afterwards published a large +and excellent book on the birds of Scotland. I had much interesting +natural-history talk with him, and he was very kind to me. He gave me +some rare shells, for I at that time collected marine mollusca, but with +no great zeal. + +My summer vacations during these two years were wholly given up to +amusements, though I always had some book in hand, which I read with +interest. During the summer of 1826 I took a long walking tour with +two friends with knapsacks on our backs through North wales. We walked +thirty miles most days, including one day the ascent of Snowdon. I +also went with my sister a riding tour in North Wales, a servant with +saddle-bags carrying our clothes. The autumns were devoted to shooting +chiefly at Mr. Owen's, at Woodhouse, and at my Uncle Jos's (Josiah +Wedgwood, the son of the founder of the Etruria Works.) at Maer. My zeal +was so great that I used to place my shooting-boots open by my bed-side +when I went to bed, so as not to lose half a minute in putting them on +in the morning; and on one occasion I reached a distant part of the Maer +estate, on the 20th of August for black-game shooting, before I could +see: I then toiled on with the game-keeper the whole day through thick +heath and young Scotch firs. + +I kept an exact record of every bird which I shot throughout the whole +season. One day when shooting at Woodhouse with Captain Owen, the eldest +son, and Major Hill, his cousin, afterwards Lord Berwick, both of whom I +liked very much, I thought myself shamefully used, for every time after +I had fired and thought that I had killed a bird, one of the two acted +as if loading his gun, and cried out, "You must not count that bird, +for I fired at the same time," and the gamekeeper, perceiving the joke, +backed them up. After some hours they told me the joke, but it was no +joke to me, for I had shot a large number of birds, but did not know how +many, and could not add them to my list, which I used to do by making a +knot in a piece of string tied to a button-hole. This my wicked friends +had perceived. + +How I did enjoy shooting! But I think that I must have been +half-consciously ashamed of my zeal, for I tried to persuade myself +that shooting was almost an intellectual employment; it required so much +skill to judge where to find most game and to hunt the dogs well. + +One of my autumnal visits to Maer in 1827 was memorable from meeting +there Sir J. Mackintosh, who was the best converser I ever listened +to. I heard afterwards with a glow of pride that he had said, "There +is something in that young man that interests me." This must have been +chiefly due to his perceiving that I listened with much interest to +everything which he said, for I was as ignorant as a pig about his +subjects of history, politics, and moral philosophy. To hear of praise +from an eminent person, though no doubt apt or certain to excite vanity, +is, I think, good for a young man, as it helps to keep him in the right +course. + +My visits to Maer during these two or three succeeding years were quite +delightful, independently of the autumnal shooting. Life there was +perfectly free; the country was very pleasant for walking or riding; +and in the evening there was much very agreeable conversation, not +so personal as it generally is in large family parties, together with +music. In the summer the whole family used often to sit on the steps +of the old portico, with the flower-garden in front, and with the steep +wooded bank opposite the house reflected in the lake, with here and +there a fish rising or a water-bird paddling about. Nothing has left a +more vivid picture on my mind than these evenings at Maer. I was +also attached to and greatly revered my Uncle Jos; he was silent and +reserved, so as to be a rather awful man; but he sometimes talked openly +with me. He was the very type of an upright man, with the clearest +judgment. I do not believe that any power on earth could have made him +swerve an inch from what he considered the right course. I used to apply +to him in my mind the well-known ode of Horace, now forgotten by me, in +which the words "nec vultus tyranni, etc.," come in. + + (Justum et tenacem propositi virum + Non civium ardor prava jubentium + Non vultus instantis tyranni + Mente quatit solida.) + + + + +CAMBRIDGE 1828-1831. + +After having spent two sessions in Edinburgh, my father perceived, or +he heard from my sisters, that I did not like the thought of being a +physician, so he proposed that I should become a clergyman. He was very +properly vehement against my turning into an idle sporting man, which +then seemed my probable destination. I asked for some time to consider, +as from what little I had heard or thought on the subject I had scruples +about declaring my belief in all the dogmas of the Church of England; +though otherwise I liked the thought of being a country clergyman. +Accordingly I read with care 'Pearson on the Creed,' and a few other +books on divinity; and as I did not then in the least doubt the strict +and literal truth of every word in the Bible, I soon persuaded myself +that our Creed must be fully accepted. + +Considering how fiercely I have been attacked by the orthodox, it seems +ludicrous that I once intended to be a clergyman. Nor was this intention +and my father's wish ever formerly given up, but died a natural death +when, on leaving Cambridge, I joined the "Beagle" as naturalist. If the +phrenologists are to be trusted, I was well fitted in one respect to be +a clergyman. A few years ago the secretaries of a German psychological +society asked me earnestly by letter for a photograph of myself; and +some time afterwards I received the proceedings of one of the meetings, +in which it seemed that the shape of my head had been the subject of a +public discussion, and one of the speakers declared that I had the bump +of reverence developed enough for ten priests. + +As it was decided that I should be a clergyman, it was necessary that I +should go to one of the English universities and take a degree; but as +I had never opened a classical book since leaving school, I found to +my dismay, that in the two intervening years I had actually forgotten, +incredible as it may appear, almost everything which I had learnt, +even to some few of the Greek letters. I did not therefore proceed to +Cambridge at the usual time in October, but worked with a private tutor +in Shrewsbury, and went to Cambridge after the Christmas vacation, early +in 1828. I soon recovered my school standard of knowledge, and could +translate easy Greek books, such as Homer and the Greek Testament, with +moderate facility. + +During the three years which I spent at Cambridge my time was wasted, +as far as the academical studies were concerned, as completely as at +Edinburgh and at school. I attempted mathematics, and even went during +the summer of 1828 with a private tutor (a very dull man) to Barmouth, +but I got on very slowly. The work was repugnant to me, chiefly from my +not being able to see any meaning in the early steps in algebra. This +impatience was very foolish, and in after years I have deeply regretted +that I did not proceed far enough at least to understand something of +the great leading principles of mathematics, for men thus endowed seem +to have an extra sense. But I do not believe that I should ever have +succeeded beyond a very low grade. With respect to Classics I did +nothing except attend a few compulsory college lectures, and the +attendance was almost nominal. In my second year I had to work for a +month or two to pass the Little-Go, which I did easily. Again, in my +last year I worked with some earnestness for my final degree of B.A., +and brushed up my Classics, together with a little Algebra and Euclid, +which latter gave me much pleasure, as it did at school. In order to +pass the B.A. examination, it was also necessary to get up Paley's +'Evidences of Christianity,' and his 'Moral Philosophy.' This was done +in a thorough manner, and I am convinced that I could have written out +the whole of the 'Evidences' with perfect correctness, but not of course +in the clear language of Paley. The logic of this book and, as I may +add, of his 'Natural Theology,' gave me as much delight as did Euclid. +The careful study of these works, without attempting to learn any part +by rote, was the only part of the academical course which, as I then +felt and as I still believe, was of the least use to me in the education +of my mind. I did not at that time trouble myself about Paley's +premises; and taking these on trust, I was charmed and convinced by the +long line of argumentation. By answering well the examination questions +in Paley, by doing Euclid well, and by not failing miserably in +Classics, I gained a good place among the oi polloi or crowd of men who +do not go in for honours. Oddly enough, I cannot remember how high I +stood, and my memory fluctuates between the fifth, tenth, or twelfth, +name on the list. (Tenth in the list of January 1831.) + +Public lectures on several branches were given in the University, +attendance being quite voluntary; but I was so sickened with lectures at +Edinburgh that I did not even attend Sedgwick's eloquent and interesting +lectures. Had I done so I should probably have become a geologist +earlier than I did. I attended, however, Henslow's lectures on Botany, +and liked them much for their extreme clearness, and the admirable +illustrations; but I did not study botany. Henslow used to take his +pupils, including several of the older members of the University, field +excursions, on foot or in coaches, to distant places, or in a barge +down the river, and lectured on the rarer plants and animals which were +observed. These excursions were delightful. + +Although, as we shall presently see, there were some redeeming features +in my life at Cambridge, my time was sadly wasted there, and worse than +wasted. From my passion for shooting and for hunting, and, when this +failed, for riding across country, I got into a sporting set, including +some dissipated low-minded young men. We used often to dine together in +the evening, though these dinners often included men of a higher stamp, +and we sometimes drank too much, with jolly singing and playing at cards +afterwards. I know that I ought to feel ashamed of days and evenings +thus spent, but as some of my friends were very pleasant, and we were +all in the highest spirits, I cannot help looking back to these times +with much pleasure. + +But I am glad to think that I had many other friends of a widely +different nature. I was very intimate with Whitley (Rev. C. Whitley, +Hon. Canon of Durham, formerly Reader in Natural Philosophy in +Durham University.), who was afterwards Senior Wrangler, and we used +continually to take long walks together. He inoculated me with a taste +for pictures and good engravings, of which I bought some. I frequently +went to the Fitzwilliam Gallery, and my taste must have been fairly +good, for I certainly admired the best pictures, which I discussed with +the old curator. I read also with much interest Sir Joshua Reynolds' +book. This taste, though not natural to me, lasted for several years, +and many of the pictures in the National Gallery in London gave me +much pleasure; that of Sebastian del Piombo exciting in me a sense of +sublimity. + +I also got into a musical set, I believe by means of my warm-hearted +friend, Herbert (The late John Maurice Herbert, County Court Judge of +Cardiff and the Monmouth Circuit.), who took a high wrangler's degree. +From associating with these men, and hearing them play, I acquired a +strong taste for music, and used very often to time my walks so as to +hear on week days the anthem in King's College Chapel. This gave me +intense pleasure, so that my backbone would sometimes shiver. I am sure +that there was no affectation or mere imitation in this taste, for I +used generally to go by myself to King's College, and I sometimes hired +the chorister boys to sing in my rooms. Nevertheless I am so utterly +destitute of an ear, that I cannot perceive a discord, or keep time +and hum a tune correctly; and it is a mystery how I could possibly have +derived pleasure from music. + +My musical friends soon perceived my state, and sometimes amused +themselves by making me pass an examination, which consisted in +ascertaining how many tunes I could recognise when they were played +rather more quickly or slowly than usual. 'God save the King,' when thus +played, was a sore puzzle. There was another man with almost as bad an +ear as I had, and strange to say he played a little on the flute. Once I +had the triumph of beating him in one of our musical examinations. + +But no pursuit at Cambridge was followed with nearly so much eagerness +or gave me so much pleasure as collecting beetles. It was the mere +passion for collecting, for I did not dissect them, and rarely compared +their external characters with published descriptions, but got them +named anyhow. I will give a proof of my zeal: one day, on tearing off +some old bark, I saw two rare beetles, and seized one in each hand; then +I saw a third and new kind, which I could not bear to lose, so that I +popped the one which I held in my right hand into my mouth. Alas! it +ejected some intensely acrid fluid, which burnt my tongue so that I was +forced to spit the beetle out, which was lost, as was the third one. + +I was very successful in collecting, and invented two new methods; I +employed a labourer to scrape during the winter, moss off old trees +and place it in a large bag, and likewise to collect the rubbish at the +bottom of the barges in which reeds are brought from the fens, and thus +I got some very rare species. No poet ever felt more delighted at +seeing his first poem published than I did at seeing, in Stephens' +'Illustrations of British Insects,' the magic words, "captured by C. +Darwin, Esq." I was introduced to entomology by my second cousin W. +Darwin Fox, a clever and most pleasant man, who was then at Christ's +College, and with whom I became extremely intimate. Afterwards I became +well acquainted, and went out collecting, with Albert Way of Trinity, +who in after years became a well-known archaeologist; also with H. +Thompson of the same College, afterwards a leading agriculturist, +chairman of a great railway, and Member of Parliament. It seems +therefore that a taste for collecting beetles is some indication of +future success in life! + +I am surprised what an indelible impression many of the beetles which +I caught at Cambridge have left on my mind. I can remember the exact +appearance of certain posts, old trees and banks where I made a good +capture. The pretty Panagaeus crux-major was a treasure in those days, +and here at Down I saw a beetle running across a walk, and on picking it +up instantly perceived that it differed slightly from P. crux-major, +and it turned out to be P. quadripunctatus, which is only a variety or +closely allied species, differing from it very slightly in outline. I +had never seen in those old days Licinus alive, which to an uneducated +eye hardly differs from many of the black Carabidous beetles; but my +sons found here a specimen, and I instantly recognised that it was new +to me; yet I had not looked at a British beetle for the last twenty +years. + +I have not as yet mentioned a circumstance which influenced my whole +career more than any other. This was my friendship with Professor +Henslow. Before coming up to Cambridge, I had heard of him from my +brother as a man who knew every branch of science, and I was accordingly +prepared to reverence him. He kept open house once every week when +all undergraduates, and some older members of the University, who were +attached to science, used to meet in the evening. I soon got, through +Fox, an invitation, and went there regularly. Before long I became +well acquainted with Henslow, and during the latter half of my time at +Cambridge took long walks with him on most days; so that I was called by +some of the dons "the man who walks with Henslow;" and in the evening I +was very often asked to join his family dinner. His knowledge was great +in botany, entomology, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology. His strongest +taste was to draw conclusions from long-continued minute observations. +His judgment was excellent, and his whole mind well balanced; but I +do not suppose that any one would say that he possessed much original +genius. He was deeply religious, and so orthodox that he told me one day +he should be grieved if a single word of the Thirty-nine Articles were +altered. His moral qualities were in every way admirable. He was free +from every tinge of vanity or other petty feeling; and I never saw a man +who thought so little about himself or his own concerns. His temper was +imperturbably good, with the most winning and courteous manners; yet, +as I have seen, he could be roused by any bad action to the warmest +indignation and prompt action. + +I once saw in his company in the streets of Cambridge almost as horrid +a scene as could have been witnessed during the French Revolution. Two +body-snatchers had been arrested, and whilst being taken to prison had +been torn from the constable by a crowd of the roughest men, who dragged +them by their legs along the muddy and stony road. They were covered +from head to foot with mud, and their faces were bleeding either from +having been kicked or from the stones; they looked like corpses, but +the crowd was so dense that I got only a few momentary glimpses of the +wretched creatures. Never in my life have I seen such wrath painted on +a man's face as was shown by Henslow at this horrid scene. He tried +repeatedly to penetrate the mob; but it was simply impossible. He then +rushed away to the mayor, telling me not to follow him, but to get more +policemen. I forget the issue, except that the two men were got into the +prison without being killed. + +Henslow's benevolence was unbounded, as he proved by his many excellent +schemes for his poor parishioners, when in after years he held the +living of Hitcham. My intimacy with such a man ought to have been, and I +hope was, an inestimable benefit. I cannot resist mentioning a trifling +incident, which showed his kind consideration. Whilst examining some +pollen-grains on a damp surface, I saw the tubes exserted, and instantly +rushed off to communicate my surprising discovery to him. Now I do not +suppose any other professor of botany could have helped laughing at my +coming in such a hurry to make such a communication. But he agreed how +interesting the phenomenon was, and explained its meaning, but made me +clearly understand how well it was known; so I left him not in the +least mortified, but well pleased at having discovered for myself so +remarkable a fact, but determined not to be in such a hurry again to +communicate my discoveries. + +Dr. Whewell was one of the older and distinguished men who sometimes +visited Henslow, and on several occasions I walked home with him at +night. Next to Sir J. Mackintosh he was the best converser on grave +subjects to whom I ever listened. Leonard Jenyns (The well-known Soame +Jenyns was cousin to Mr. Jenyns' father.), who afterwards published some +good essays in Natural History (Mr. Jenyns (now Blomefield) described +the fish for the Zoology of the "Beagle"; and is author of a long series +of papers, chiefly Zoological.), often stayed with Henslow, who was his +brother-in-law. I visited him at his parsonage on the borders of the +Fens [Swaffham Bulbeck], and had many a good walk and talk with him +about Natural History. I became also acquainted with several other men +older than me, who did not care much about science, but were friends of +Henslow. One was a Scotchman, brother of Sir Alexander Ramsay, and tutor +of Jesus College: he was a delightful man, but did not live for many +years. Another was Mr. Dawes, afterwards Dean of Hereford, and famous +for his success in the education of the poor. These men and others of +the same standing, together with Henslow, used sometimes to take distant +excursions into the country, which I was allowed to join, and they were +most agreeable. + +Looking back, I infer that there must have been something in me a little +superior to the common run of youths, otherwise the above-mentioned men, +so much older than me and higher in academical position, would never +have allowed me to associate with them. Certainly I was not aware of any +such superiority, and I remember one of my sporting friends, Turner, +who saw me at work with my beetles, saying that I should some day be a +Fellow of the Royal Society, and the notion seemed to me preposterous. + +During my last year at Cambridge, I read with care and profound interest +Humboldt's 'Personal Narrative.' This work, and Sir J. Herschel's +'Introduction to the Study of Natural Philosophy,' stirred up in me +a burning zeal to add even the most humble contribution to the noble +structure of Natural Science. No one or a dozen other books influenced +me nearly so much as these two. I copied out from Humboldt long passages +about Teneriffe, and read them aloud on one of the above-mentioned +excursions, to (I think) Henslow, Ramsay, and Dawes, for on a previous +occasion I had talked about the glories of Teneriffe, and some of the +party declared they would endeavour to go there; but I think that they +were only half in earnest. I was, however, quite in earnest, and got +an introduction to a merchant in London to enquire about ships; but +the scheme was, of course, knocked on the head by the voyage of the +"Beagle". + +My summer vacations were given up to collecting beetles, to some +reading, and short tours. In the autumn my whole time was devoted to +shooting, chiefly at Woodhouse and Maer, and sometimes with young Eyton +of Eyton. Upon the whole the three years which I spent at Cambridge were +the most joyful in my happy life; for I was then in excellent health, +and almost always in high spirits. + +As I had at first come up to Cambridge at Christmas, I was forced to +keep two terms after passing my final examination, at the commencement +of 1831; and Henslow then persuaded me to begin the study of geology. +Therefore on my return to Shropshire I examined sections, and coloured +a map of parts round Shrewsbury. Professor Sedgwick intended to visit +North Wales in the beginning of August to pursue his famous geological +investigations amongst the older rocks, and Henslow asked him to allow +me to accompany him. (In connection with this tour my father used +to tell a story about Sedgwick: they had started from their inn one +morning, and had walked a mile or two, when Sedgwick suddenly stopped, +and vowed that he would return, being certain "that damned scoundrel" +(the waiter) had not given the chambermaid the sixpence intrusted to +him for the purpose. He was ultimately persuaded to give up the project, +seeing that there was no reason for suspecting the waiter of especial +perfidy.--F.D.) Accordingly he came and slept at my father's house. + +A short conversation with him during this evening produced a strong +impression on my mind. Whilst examining an old gravel-pit near +Shrewsbury, a labourer told me that he had found in it a large worn +tropical Volute shell, such as may be seen on the chimney-pieces of +cottages; and as he would not sell the shell, I was convinced that he +had really found it in the pit. I told Sedgwick of the fact, and he at +once said (no doubt truly) that it must have been thrown away by some +one into the pit; but then added, if really embedded there it would be +the greatest misfortune to geology, as it would overthrow all that +we know about the superficial deposits of the Midland Counties. These +gravel-beds belong in fact to the glacial period, and in after years I +found in them broken arctic shells. But I was then utterly astonished at +Sedgwick not being delighted at so wonderful a fact as a tropical shell +being found near the surface in the middle of England. Nothing +before had ever made me thoroughly realise, though I had read various +scientific books, that science consists in grouping facts so that +general laws or conclusions may be drawn from them. + +Next morning we started for Llangollen, Conway, Bangor, and Capel Curig. +This tour was of decided use in teaching me a little how to make out the +geology of a country. Sedgwick often sent me on a line parallel to +his, telling me to bring back specimens of the rocks and to mark the +stratification on a map. I have little doubt that he did this for my +good, as I was too ignorant to have aided him. On this tour I had a +striking instance of how easy it is to overlook phenomena, however +conspicuous, before they have been observed by any one. We spent many +hours in Cwm Idwal, examining all the rocks with extreme care, as +Sedgwick was anxious to find fossils in them; but neither of us saw +a trace of the wonderful glacial phenomena all around us; we did not +notice the plainly scored rocks, the perched boulders, the lateral and +terminal moraines. Yet these phenomena are so conspicuous that, as +I declared in a paper published many years afterwards in the +'Philosophical Magazine' ('Philosophical Magazine,' 1842.), a house +burnt down by fire did not tell its story more plainly than did this +valley. If it had still been filled by a glacier, the phenomena would +have been less distinct than they now are. + +At Capel Curig I left Sedgwick and went in a straight line by compass +and map across the mountains to Barmouth, never following any track +unless it coincided with my course. I thus came on some strange wild +places, and enjoyed much this manner of travelling. I visited Barmouth +to see some Cambridge friends who were reading there, and thence +returned to Shrewsbury and to Maer for shooting; for at that time +I should have thought myself mad to give up the first days of +partridge-shooting for geology or any other science. + + + + +"VOYAGE OF THE 'BEAGLE' FROM DECEMBER 27, 1831, TO OCTOBER 2, 1836." + +On returning home from my short geological tour in North Wales, I found +a letter from Henslow, informing me that Captain Fitz-Roy was willing to +give up part of his own cabin to any young man who would volunteer to go +with him without pay as naturalist to the Voyage of the "Beagle". I +have given, as I believe, in my MS. Journal an account of all the +circumstances which then occurred; I will here only say that I was +instantly eager to accept the offer, but my father strongly objected, +adding the words, fortunate for me, "If you can find any man of common +sense who advises you to go I will give my consent." So I wrote that +evening and refused the offer. On the next morning I went to Maer to +be ready for September 1st, and, whilst out shooting, my uncle (Josiah +Wedgwood.) sent for me, offering to drive me over to Shrewsbury and talk +with my father, as my uncle thought it would be wise in me to accept the +offer. My father always maintained that he was one of the most sensible +men in the world, and he at once consented in the kindest manner. I had +been rather extravagant at Cambridge, and to console my father, said, +"that I should be deuced clever to spend more than my allowance whilst +on board the 'Beagle';" but he answered with a smile, "But they tell me +you are very clever." + +Next day I started for Cambridge to see Henslow, and thence to London +to see Fitz-Roy, and all was soon arranged. Afterwards, on becoming very +intimate with Fitz-Roy, I heard that I had run a very narrow risk of +being rejected, on account of the shape of my nose! He was an ardent +disciple of Lavater, and was convinced that he could judge of a man's +character by the outline of his features; and he doubted whether any one +with my nose could possess sufficient energy and determination for the +voyage. But I think he was afterwards well satisfied that my nose had +spoken falsely. + +Fitz-Roy's character was a singular one, with very many noble features: +he was devoted to his duty, generous to a fault, bold, determined, and +indomitably energetic, and an ardent friend to all under his sway. He +would undertake any sort of trouble to assist those whom he thought +deserved assistance. He was a handsome man, strikingly like a gentleman, +with highly courteous manners, which resembled those of his maternal +uncle, the famous Lord Castlereagh, as I was told by the Minister at +Rio. Nevertheless he must have inherited much in his appearance from +Charles II., for Dr. Wallich gave me a collection of photographs which +he had made, and I was struck with the resemblance of one to Fitz-Roy; +and on looking at the name, I found it Ch. E. Sobieski Stuart, Count +d'Albanie, a descendant of the same monarch. + +Fitz-Roy's temper was a most unfortunate one. It was usually worst in +the early morning, and with his eagle eye he could generally detect +something amiss about the ship, and was then unsparing in his blame. He +was very kind to me, but was a man very difficult to live with on the +intimate terms which necessarily followed from our messing by ourselves +in the same cabin. We had several quarrels; for instance, early in the +voyage at Bahia, in Brazil, he defended and praised slavery, which I +abominated, and told me that he had just visited a great slave-owner, +who had called up many of his slaves and asked them whether they were +happy, and whether they wished to be free, and all answered "No." I then +asked him, perhaps with a sneer, whether he thought that the answer of +slaves in the presence of their master was worth anything? This made him +excessively angry, and he said that as I doubted his word we could not +live any longer together. I thought that I should have been compelled to +leave the ship; but as soon as the news spread, which it did quickly, +as the captain sent for the first lieutenant to assuage his anger by +abusing me, I was deeply gratified by receiving an invitation from all +the gun-room officers to mess with them. But after a few hours Fitz-Roy +showed his usual magnanimity by sending an officer to me with an apology +and a request that I would continue to live with him. + +His character was in several respects one of the most noble which I have +ever known. + +The voyage of the "Beagle" has been by far the most important event in +my life, and has determined my whole career; yet it depended on so +small a circumstance as my uncle offering to drive me thirty miles to +Shrewsbury, which few uncles would have done, and on such a trifle as +the shape of my nose. I have always felt that I owe to the voyage the +first real training or education of my mind; I was led to attend +closely to several branches of natural history, and thus my powers of +observation were improved, though they were always fairly developed. + +The investigation of the geology of all the places visited was far more +important, as reasoning here comes into play. On first examining a new +district nothing can appear more hopeless than the chaos of rocks; but +by recording the stratification and nature of the rocks and fossils +at many points, always reasoning and predicting what will be found +elsewhere, light soon begins to dawn on the district, and the structure +of the whole becomes more or less intelligible. I had brought with me +the first volume of Lyell's 'Principles of Geology,' which I studied +attentively; and the book was of the highest service to me in many ways. +The very first place which I examined, namely St. Jago in the Cape de +Verde islands, showed me clearly the wonderful superiority of Lyell's +manner of treating geology, compared with that of any other author, +whose works I had with me or ever afterwards read. + +Another of my occupations was collecting animals of all classes, briefly +describing and roughly dissecting many of the marine ones; but from not +being able to draw, and from not having sufficient anatomical knowledge, +a great pile of MS. which I made during the voyage has proved almost +useless. I thus lost much time, with the exception of that spent in +acquiring some knowledge of the Crustaceans, as this was of service when +in after years I undertook a monograph of the Cirripedia. + +During some part of the day I wrote my Journal, and took much pains in +describing carefully and vividly all that I had seen; and this was good +practice. My Journal served also, in part, as letters to my home, and +portions were sent to England whenever there was an opportunity. + +The above various special studies were, however, of no importance +compared with the habit of energetic industry and of concentrated +attention to whatever I was engaged in, which I then acquired. +Everything about which I thought or read was made to bear directly +on what I had seen or was likely to see; and this habit of mind was +continued during the five years of the voyage. I feel sure that it +was this training which has enabled me to do whatever I have done in +science. + +Looking backwards, I can now perceive how my love for science gradually +preponderated over every other taste. During the first two years my old +passion for shooting survived in nearly full force, and I shot myself +all the birds and animals for my collection; but gradually I gave up my +gun more and more, and finally altogether, to my servant, as shooting +interfered with my work, more especially with making out the geological +structure of a country. I discovered, though unconsciously and +insensibly, that the pleasure of observing and reasoning was a much +higher one than that of skill and sport. That my mind became developed +through my pursuits during the voyage is rendered probable by a remark +made by my father, who was the most acute observer whom I ever saw, of a +sceptical disposition, and far from being a believer in phrenology; for +on first seeing me after the voyage, he turned round to my sisters, and +exclaimed, "Why, the shape of his head is quite altered." + +To return to the voyage. On September 11th (1831), I paid a flying visit +with Fitz-Roy to the "Beagle" at Plymouth. Thence to Shrewsbury to wish +my father and sisters a long farewell. On October 24th I took up my +residence at Plymouth, and remained there until December 27th, when the +"Beagle" finally left the shores of England for her circumnavigation of +the world. We made two earlier attempts to sail, but were driven back +each time by heavy gales. These two months at Plymouth were the most +miserable which I ever spent, though I exerted myself in various ways. +I was out of spirits at the thought of leaving all my family and friends +for so long a time, and the weather seemed to me inexpressibly gloomy. +I was also troubled with palpitation and pain about the heart, and like +many a young ignorant man, especially one with a smattering of medical +knowledge, was convinced that I had heart disease. I did not consult any +doctor, as I fully expected to hear the verdict that I was not fit for +the voyage, and I was resolved to go at all hazards. + +I need not here refer to the events of the voyage--where we went and +what we did--as I have given a sufficiently full account in my published +Journal. The glories of the vegetation of the Tropics rise before my +mind at the present time more vividly than anything else; though +the sense of sublimity, which the great deserts of Patagonia and the +forest-clad mountains of Tierra del Fuego excited in me, has left an +indelible impression on my mind. The sight of a naked savage in his +native land is an event which can never be forgotten. Many of my +excursions on horseback through wild countries, or in the boats, some +of which lasted several weeks, were deeply interesting: their discomfort +and some degree of danger were at that time hardly a drawback, and none +at all afterwards. I also reflect with high satisfaction on some of +my scientific work, such as solving the problem of coral islands, and +making out the geological structure of certain islands, for instance, +St. Helena. Nor must I pass over the discovery of the singular relations +of the animals and plants inhabiting the several islands of the +Galapagos archipelago, and of all of them to the inhabitants of South +America. + +As far as I can judge of myself, I worked to the utmost during the +voyage from the mere pleasure of investigation, and from my strong +desire to add a few facts to the great mass of facts in Natural +Science. But I was also ambitious to take a fair place among scientific +men,--whether more ambitious or less so than most of my fellow-workers, +I can form no opinion. + +The geology of St. Jago is very striking, yet simple: a stream of lava +formerly flowed over the bed of the sea, formed of triturated recent +shells and corals, which it has baked into a hard white rock. Since then +the whole island has been upheaved. But the line of white rock revealed +to me a new and important fact, namely, that there had been afterwards +subsidence round the craters, which had since been in action, and had +poured forth lava. It then first dawned on me that I might perhaps write +a book on the geology of the various countries visited, and this made me +thrill with delight. That was a memorable hour to me, and how distinctly +I can call to mind the low cliff of lava beneath which I rested, with +the sun glaring hot, a few strange desert plants growing near, and +with living corals in the tidal pools at my feet. Later in the voyage, +Fitz-Roy asked me to read some of my Journal, and declared it would be +worth publishing; so here was a second book in prospect! + +Towards the close of our voyage I received a letter whilst at Ascension, +in which my sisters told me that Sedgwick had called on my father, and +said that I should take a place among the leading scientific men. I +could not at the time understand how he could have learnt anything of +my proceedings, but I heard (I believe afterwards) that Henslow had +read some of the letters which I wrote to him before the Philosophical +Society of Cambridge (Read at the meeting held November 16, 1835, and +printed in a pamphlet of 31 pages for distribution among the members +of the Society.), and had printed them for private distribution. My +collection of fossil bones, which had been sent to Henslow, also excited +considerable attention amongst palaeontologists. After reading this +letter, I clambered over the mountains of Ascension with a bounding +step, and made the volcanic rocks resound under my geological hammer. +All this shows how ambitious I was; but I think that I can say with +truth that in after years, though I cared in the highest degree for the +approbation of such men as Lyell and Hooker, who were my friends, I +did not care much about the general public. I do not mean to say that a +favourable review or a large sale of my books did not please me greatly, +but the pleasure was a fleeting one, and I am sure that I have never +turned one inch out of my course to gain fame. + + + + +FROM MY RETURN TO ENGLAND (OCTOBER 2, 1836) TO MY MARRIAGE (JANUARY 29, +1839.) + +These two years and three months were the most active ones which I ever +spent, though I was occasionally unwell, and so lost some time. After +going backwards and forwards several times between Shrewsbury, +Maer, Cambridge, and London, I settled in lodgings at Cambridge (In +Fitzwilliam Street.) on December 13th, where all my collections were +under the care of Henslow. I stayed here three months, and got my +minerals and rocks examined by the aid of Professor Miller. + +I began preparing my 'Journal of Travels,' which was not hard work, +as my MS. Journal had been written with care, and my chief labour was +making an abstract of my more interesting scientific results. I sent +also, at the request of Lyell, a short account of my observations on +the elevation of the coast of Chile to the Geological Society. ('Geolog. +Soc. Proc. ii. 1838, pages 446-449.) + +On March 7th, 1837, I took lodgings in Great Marlborough Street in +London, and remained there for nearly two years, until I was married. +During these two years I finished my Journal, read several papers before +the Geological Society, began preparing the MS. for my 'Geological +Observations,' and arranged for the publication of the 'Zoology of the +Voyage of the "Beagle".' In July I opened my first note-book for facts +in relation to the Origin of Species, about which I had long reflected, +and never ceased working for the next twenty years. + +During these two years I also went a little into society, and acted as +one of the honorary secretaries of the Geological Society. I saw a great +deal of Lyell. One of his chief characteristics was his sympathy with +the work of others, and I was as much astonished as delighted at the +interest which he showed when, on my return to England, I explained to +him my views on coral reefs. This encouraged me greatly, and his advice +and example had much influence on me. During this time I saw also a good +deal of Robert Brown; I used often to call and sit with him during his +breakfast on Sunday mornings, and he poured forth a rich treasure of +curious observations and acute remarks, but they almost always related +to minute points, and he never with me discussed large or general +questions in science. + +During these two years I took several short excursions as a relaxation, +and one longer one to the Parallel Roads of Glen Roy, an account of +which was published in the 'Philosophical Transactions.' (1839, pages +39-82.) This paper was a great failure, and I am ashamed of it. Having +been deeply impressed with what I had seen of the elevation of the land +of South America, I attributed the parallel lines to the action of +the sea; but I had to give up this view when Agassiz propounded his +glacier-lake theory. Because no other explanation was possible under our +then state of knowledge, I argued in favour of sea-action; and my error +has been a good lesson to me never to trust in science to the principle +of exclusion. + +As I was not able to work all day at science, I read a good deal during +these two years on various subjects, including some metaphysical books; +but I was not well fitted for such studies. About this time I took much +delight in Wordsworth's and Coleridge's poetry; and can boast that I +read the 'Excursion' twice through. Formerly Milton's 'Paradise Lost' +had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of +the "Beagle", when I could take only a single volume, I always chose +Milton. + + + + +FROM MY MARRIAGE, JANUARY 29, 1839, AND RESIDENCE IN UPPER GOWER STREET, +TO OUR LEAVING LONDON AND SETTLING AT DOWN, SEPTEMBER 14, 1842. + +(After speaking of his happy married life, and of his children, he +continues:--) + +During the three years and eight months whilst we resided in London, I +did less scientific work, though I worked as hard as I possibly could, +than during any other equal length of time in my life. This was owing +to frequently recurring unwellness, and to one long and serious illness. +The greater part of my time, when I could do anything, was devoted to +my work on 'Coral Reefs,' which I had begun before my marriage, and of +which the last proof-sheet was corrected on May 6th, 1842. This book, +though a small one, cost me twenty months of hard work, as I had to read +every work on the islands of the Pacific and to consult many charts. It +was thought highly of by scientific men, and the theory therein given +is, I think, now well established. + +No other work of mine was begun in so deductive a spirit as this, for +the whole theory was thought out on the west coast of South America, +before I had seen a true coral reef. I had therefore only to verify and +extend my views by a careful examination of living reefs. But it should +be observed that I had during the two previous years been incessantly +attending to the effects on the shores of South America of the +intermittent elevation of the land, together with denudation and the +deposition of sediment. This necessarily led me to reflect much on the +effects of subsidence, and it was easy to replace in imagination the +continued deposition of sediment by the upward growth of corals. To do +this was to form my theory of the formation of barrier-reefs and atolls. + +Besides my work on coral-reefs, during my residence in London, I read +before the Geological Society papers on the Erratic Boulders of South +America ('Geolog. Soc. Proc.' iii. 1842.), on Earthquakes ('Geolog. +Trans. v. 1840.), and on the Formation by the Agency of Earth-worms of +Mould. ('Geolog. Soc. Proc. ii. 1838.) I also continued to superintend +the publication of the 'Zoology of the Voyage of the "Beagle".' Nor did +I ever intermit collecting facts bearing on the origin of species; and I +could sometimes do this when I could do nothing else from illness. + +In the summer of 1842 I was stronger than I had been for some time, and +took a little tour by myself in North Wales, for the sake of observing +the effects of the old glaciers which formerly filled all the larger +valleys. I published a short account of what I saw in the 'Philosophical +Magazine.' ('Philosophical Magazine,' 1842.) This excursion interested +me greatly, and it was the last time I was ever strong enough to climb +mountains or to take long walks such as are necessary for geological +work. + +During the early part of our life in London, I was strong enough to go +into general society, and saw a good deal of several scientific men, and +other more or less distinguished men. I will give my impressions with +respect to some of them, though I have little to say worth saying. + +I saw more of Lyell than of any other man, both before and after +my marriage. His mind was characterised, as it appeared to me, by +clearness, caution, sound judgment, and a good deal of originality. When +I made any remark to him on Geology, he never rested until he saw the +whole case clearly, and often made me see it more clearly than I had +done before. He would advance all possible objections to my suggestion, +and even after these were exhausted would long remain dubious. A second +characteristic was his hearty sympathy with the work of other scientific +men. (The slight repetition here observable is accounted for by the +notes on Lyell, etc., having been added in April, 1881, a few years +after the rest of the 'Recollections' were written.) + +On my return from the voyage of the "Beagle", I explained to him +my views on coral-reefs, which differed from his, and I was greatly +surprised and encouraged by the vivid interest which he showed. His +delight in science was ardent, and he felt the keenest interest in the +future progress of mankind. He was very kind-hearted, and thoroughly +liberal in his religious beliefs, or rather disbeliefs; but he was a +strong theist. His candour was highly remarkable. He exhibited this by +becoming a convert to the Descent theory, though he had gained much +fame by opposing Lamarck's views, and this after he had grown old. He +reminded me that I had many years before said to him, when discussing +the opposition of the old school of geologists to his new views, "What +a good thing it would be if every scientific man was to die when sixty +years old, as afterwards he would be sure to oppose all new doctrines." +But he hoped that now he might be allowed to live. + +The science of Geology is enormously indebted to Lyell--more so, as I +believe, than to any other man who ever lived. When [I was] starting on +the voyage of the "Beagle", the sagacious Henslow, who, like all other +geologists, believed at that time in successive cataclysms, advised me +to get and study the first volume of the 'Principles,' which had then +just been published, but on no account to accept the views therein +advocated. How differently would anyone now speak of the 'Principles'! I +am proud to remember that the first place, namely, St. Jago, in the +Cape de Verde archipelago, in which I geologised, convinced me of the +infinite superiority of Lyell's views over those advocated in any other +work known to me. + +The powerful effects of Lyell's works could formerly be plainly seen in +the different progress of the science in France and England. The present +total oblivion of Elie de Beaumont's wild hypotheses, such as his +'Craters of Elevation' and 'Lines of Elevation' (which latter hypothesis +I heard Sedgwick at the Geological Society lauding to the skies), may be +largely attributed to Lyell. + +I saw a good deal of Robert Brown, "facile Princeps Botanicorum," as he +was called by Humboldt. He seemed to me to be chiefly remarkable for +the minuteness of his observations, and their perfect accuracy. His +knowledge was extraordinarily great, and much died with him, owing to +his excessive fear of ever making a mistake. He poured out his knowledge +to me in the most unreserved manner, yet was strangely jealous on some +points. I called on him two or three times before the voyage of the +"Beagle", and on one occasion he asked me to look through a microscope +and describe what I saw. This I did, and believe now that it was the +marvellous currents of protoplasm in some vegetable cell. I then asked +him what I had seen; but he answered me, "That is my little secret." + +He was capable of the most generous actions. When old, much out of +health, and quite unfit for any exertion, he daily visited (as Hooker +told me) an old man-servant, who lived at a distance (and whom he +supported), and read aloud to him. This is enough to make up for any +degree of scientific penuriousness or jealousy. + +I may here mention a few other eminent men, whom I have occasionally +seen, but I have little to say about them worth saying. I felt a high +reverence for Sir J. Herschel, and was delighted to dine with him at his +charming house at the Cape of Good Hope, and afterwards at his London +house. I saw him, also, on a few other occasions. He never talked much, +but every word which he uttered was worth listening to. + +I once met at breakfast at Sir R. Murchison's house the illustrious +Humboldt, who honoured me by expressing a wish to see me. I was a little +disappointed with the great man, but my anticipations probably were too +high. I can remember nothing distinctly about our interview, except that +Humboldt was very cheerful and talked much. + +--reminds me of Buckle whom I once met at Hensleigh Wedgwood's. I was +very glad to learn from him his system of collecting facts. He told me +that he bought all the books which he read, and made a full index, to +each, of the facts which he thought might prove serviceable to him, and +that he could always remember in what book he had read anything, for his +memory was wonderful. I asked him how at first he could judge what facts +would be serviceable, and he answered that he did not know, but that a +sort of instinct guided him. From this habit of making indices, he was +enabled to give the astonishing number of references on all sorts of +subjects, which may be found in his 'History of Civilisation.' This book +I thought most interesting, and read it twice, but I doubt whether his +generalisations are worth anything. Buckle was a great talker, and I +listened to him saying hardly a word, nor indeed could I have done so +for he left no gaps. When Mrs. Farrer began to sing, I jumped up and +said that I must listen to her; after I had moved away he turned around +to a friend and said (as was overheard by my brother), "Well, Mr. +Darwin's books are much better than his conversation." + +Of other great literary men, I once met Sydney Smith at Dean Milman's +house. There was something inexplicably amusing in every word which he +uttered. Perhaps this was partly due to the expectation of being amused. +He was talking about Lady Cork, who was then extremely old. This was the +lady who, as he said, was once so much affected by one of his charity +sermons, that she _borrowed_ a guinea from a friend to put in the plate. +He now said "It is generally believed that my dear old friend Lady Cork +has been overlooked," and he said this in such a manner that no one +could for a moment doubt that he meant that his dear old friend had been +overlooked by the devil. How he managed to express this I know not. + +I likewise once met Macaulay at Lord Stanhope's (the historian's) house, +and as there was only one other man at dinner, I had a grand opportunity +of hearing him converse, and he was very agreeable. He did not talk at +all too much; nor indeed could such a man talk too much, as long as he +allowed others to turn the stream of his conversation, and this he did +allow. + +Lord Stanhope once gave me a curious little proof of the accuracy and +fulness of Macaulay's memory: many historians used often to meet at +Lord Stanhope's house, and in discussing various subjects they would +sometimes differ from Macaulay, and formerly they often referred to some +book to see who was right; but latterly, as Lord Stanhope noticed, no +historian ever took this trouble, and whatever Macaulay said was final. + +On another occasion I met at Lord Stanhope's house, one of his parties +of historians and other literary men, and amongst them were Motley and +Grote. After luncheon I walked about Chevening Park for nearly an hour +with Grote, and was much interested by his conversation and pleased by +the simplicity and absence of all pretension in his manners. + +Long ago I dined occasionally with the old Earl, the father of the +historian; he was a strange man, but what little I knew of him I +liked much. He was frank, genial, and pleasant. He had strongly marked +features, with a brown complexion, and his clothes, when I saw him, +were all brown. He seemed to believe in everything which was to others +utterly incredible. He said one day to me, "Why don't you give up your +fiddle-faddle of geology and zoology, and turn to the occult sciences!" +The historian, then Lord Mahon, seemed shocked at such a speech to me, +and his charming wife much amused. + +The last man whom I will mention is Carlyle, seen by me several times at +my brother's house, and two or three times at my own house. His talk was +very racy and interesting, just like his writings, but he sometimes +went on too long on the same subject. I remember a funny dinner at my +brother's, where, amongst a few others, were Babbage and Lyell, both of +whom liked to talk. Carlyle, however, silenced every one by haranguing +during the whole dinner on the advantages of silence. After dinner +Babbage, in his grimmest manner, thanked Carlyle for his very +interesting lecture on silence. + +Carlyle sneered at almost every one: one day in my house he called +Grote's 'History' "a fetid quagmire, with nothing spiritual about it." I +always thought, until his 'Reminiscences' appeared, that his sneers were +partly jokes, but this now seems rather doubtful. His expression was +that of a depressed, almost despondent yet benevolent man; and it is +notorious how heartily he laughed. I believe that his benevolence was +real, though stained by not a little jealousy. No one can doubt about +his extraordinary power of drawing pictures of things and men--far more +vivid, as it appears to me, than any drawn by Macaulay. Whether his +pictures of men were true ones is another question. + +He has been all-powerful in impressing some grand moral truths on the +minds of men. On the other hand, his views about slavery were revolting. +In his eyes might was right. His mind seemed to me a very narrow one; +even if all branches of science, which he despised, are excluded. It is +astonishing to me that Kingsley should have spoken of him as a man +well fitted to advance science. He laughed to scorn the idea that a +mathematician, such as Whewell, could judge, as I maintained he could, +of Goethe's views on light. He thought it a most ridiculous thing that +any one should care whether a glacier moved a little quicker or a little +slower, or moved at all. As far as I could judge, I never met a man with +a mind so ill adapted for scientific research. + +Whilst living in London, I attended as regularly as I could the +meetings of several scientific societies, and acted as secretary to the +Geological Society. But such attendance, and ordinary society, suited my +health so badly that we resolved to live in the country, which we both +preferred and have never repented of. + + + + +RESIDENCE AT DOWN FROM SEPTEMBER 14, 1842, TO THE PRESENT TIME, 1876. + +After several fruitless searches in Surrey and elsewhere, we found this +house and purchased it. I was pleased with the diversified appearance +of vegetation proper to a chalk district, and so unlike what I had been +accustomed to in the Midland counties; and still more pleased with the +extreme quietness and rusticity of the place. It is not, however, quite +so retired a place as a writer in a German periodical makes it, who +says that my house can be approached only by a mule-track! Our fixing +ourselves here has answered admirably in one way, which we did not +anticipate, namely, by being very convenient for frequent visits from +our children. + +Few persons can have lived a more retired life than we have done. +Besides short visits to the houses of relations, and occasionally to the +seaside or elsewhere, we have gone nowhere. During the first part of +our residence we went a little into society, and received a few friends +here; but my health almost always suffered from the excitement, violent +shivering and vomiting attacks being thus brought on. I have therefore +been compelled for many years to give up all dinner-parties; and this +has been somewhat of a deprivation to me, as such parties always put me +into high spirits. From the same cause I have been able to invite here +very few scientific acquaintances. + +My chief enjoyment and sole employment throughout life has been +scientific work; and the excitement from such work makes me for the +time forget, or drives quite away, my daily discomfort. I have therefore +nothing to record during the rest of my life, except the publication +of my several books. Perhaps a few details how they arose may be worth +giving. + + + + +MY SEVERAL PUBLICATIONS. + +In the early part of 1844, my observations on the volcanic islands +visited during the voyage of the "Beagle" were published. In 1845, +I took much pains in correcting a new edition of my 'Journal of +Researches,' which was originally published in 1839 as part of +Fitz-Roy's work. The success of this, my first literary child, always +tickles my vanity more than that of any of my other books. Even to this +day it sells steadily in England and the United States, and has been +translated for the second time into German, and into French and other +languages. This success of a book of travels, especially of a scientific +one, so many years after its first publication, is surprising. Ten +thousand copies have been sold in England of the second edition. In 1846 +my 'Geological Observations on South America' were published. I record +in a little diary, which I have always kept, that my three geological +books ('Coral Reefs' included) consumed four and a half years' steady +work; "and now it is ten years since my return to England. How much time +have I lost by illness?" I have nothing to say about these three books +except that to my surprise new editions have lately been called for. +('Geological Observations,' 2nd Edit.1876. 'Coral Reefs,' 2nd Edit. +1874.) + +In October, 1846, I began to work on 'Cirripedia.' When on the coast of +Chile, I found a most curious form, which burrowed into the shells of +Concholepas, and which differed so much from all other Cirripedes that +I had to form a new sub-order for its sole reception. Lately an allied +burrowing genus has been found on the shores of Portugal. To understand +the structure of my new Cirripede I had to examine and dissect many +of the common forms; and this gradually led me on to take up the whole +group. I worked steadily on this subject for the next eight years, and +ultimately published two thick volumes (Published by the Ray Society.), +describing all the known living species, and two thin quartos on the +extinct species. I do not doubt that Sir E. Lytton Bulwer had me in his +mind when he introduced in one of his novels a Professor Long, who had +written two huge volumes on limpets. + +Although I was employed during eight years on this work, yet I record in +my diary that about two years out of this time was lost by illness. On +this account I went in 1848 for some months to Malvern for hydropathic +treatment, which did me much good, so that on my return home I was able +to resume work. So much was I out of health that when my dear father +died on November 13th, 1848, I was unable to attend his funeral or to +act as one of his executors. + +My work on the Cirripedia possesses, I think, considerable value, as +besides describing several new and remarkable forms, I made out the +homologies of the various parts--I discovered the cementing apparatus, +though I blundered dreadfully about the cement glands--and lastly I +proved the existence in certain genera of minute males complemental to +and parasitic on the hermaphrodites. This latter discovery has at last +been fully confirmed; though at one time a German writer was pleased to +attribute the whole account to my fertile imagination. The Cirripedes +form a highly varying and difficult group of species to class; and my +work was of considerable use to me, when I had to discuss in the 'Origin +of Species' the principles of a natural classification. Nevertheless, I +doubt whether the work was worth the consumption of so much time. + +From September 1854 I devoted my whole time to arranging my huge +pile of notes, to observing, and to experimenting in relation to the +transmutation of species. During the voyage of the "Beagle" I had been +deeply impressed by discovering in the Pampean formation great fossil +animals covered with armour like that on the existing armadillos; +secondly, by the manner in which closely allied animals replace one +another in proceeding southwards over the Continent; and thirdly, by +the South American character of most of the productions of the Galapagos +archipelago, and more especially by the manner in which they differ +slightly on each island of the group; none of the islands appearing to +be very ancient in a geological sense. + +It was evident that such facts as these, as well as many others, could +only be explained on the supposition that species gradually become +modified; and the subject haunted me. But it was equally evident that +neither the action of the surrounding conditions, nor the will of the +organisms (especially in the case of plants) could account for the +innumerable cases in which organisms of every kind are beautifully +adapted to their habits of life--for instance, a woodpecker or a +tree-frog to climb trees, or a seed for dispersal by hooks or plumes. I +had always been much struck by such adaptations, and until these could +be explained it seemed to me almost useless to endeavour to prove by +indirect evidence that species have been modified. + +After my return to England it appeared to me that by following the +example of Lyell in Geology, and by collecting all facts which bore in +any way on the variation of animals and plants under domestication and +nature, some light might perhaps be thrown on the whole subject. My +first note-book was opened in July 1837. I worked on true Baconian +principles, and without any theory collected facts on a wholesale scale, +more especially with respect to domesticated productions, by printed +enquiries, by conversation with skilful breeders and gardeners, and by +extensive reading. When I see the list of books of all kinds which +I read and abstracted, including whole series of Journals and +Transactions, I am surprised at my industry. I soon perceived that +selection was the keystone of man's success in making useful races of +animals and plants. But how selection could be applied to organisms +living in a state of nature remained for some time a mystery to me. + +In October 1838, that is, fifteen months after I had begun my systematic +enquiry, I happened to read for amusement 'Malthus on Population,' +and being well prepared to appreciate the struggle for existence which +everywhere goes on from long-continued observation of the habits of +animals and plants, it at once struck me that under these circumstances +favourable variations would tend to be preserved, and unfavourable +ones to be destroyed. The result of this would be the formation of new +species. Here then I had at last got a theory by which to work; but I +was so anxious to avoid prejudice, that I determined not for some time +to write even the briefest sketch of it. In June 1842 I first allowed +myself the satisfaction of writing a very brief abstract of my theory in +pencil in 35 pages; and this was enlarged during the summer of 1844 into +one of 230 pages, which I had fairly copied out and still possess. + +But at that time I overlooked one problem of great importance; and it is +astonishing to me, except on the principle of Columbus and his egg, +how I could have overlooked it and its solution. This problem is the +tendency in organic beings descended from the same stock to diverge in +character as they become modified. That they have diverged greatly is +obvious from the manner in which species of all kinds can be classed +under genera, genera under families, families under sub-orders and +so forth; and I can remember the very spot in the road, whilst in my +carriage, when to my joy the solution occurred to me; and this was +long after I had come to Down. The solution, as I believe, is that the +modified offspring of all dominant and increasing forms tend to become +adapted to many and highly diversified places in the economy of nature. + +Early in 1856 Lyell advised me to write out my views pretty fully, and +I began at once to do so on a scale three or four times as extensive as +that which was afterwards followed in my 'Origin of Species;' yet it +was only an abstract of the materials which I had collected, and I got +through about half the work on this scale. But my plans were overthrown, +for early in the summer of 1858 Mr. Wallace, who was then in the Malay +archipelago, sent me an essay "On the Tendency of Varieties to depart +indefinitely from the Original Type;" and this essay contained exactly +the same theory as mine. Mr. Wallace expressed the wish that if I +thought well of his essay, I should sent it to Lyell for perusal. + +The circumstances under which I consented at the request of Lyell and +Hooker to allow of an abstract from my MS., together with a letter to +Asa Gray, dated September 5, 1857, to be published at the same time with +Wallace's Essay, are given in the 'Journal of the Proceedings of the +Linnean Society,' 1858, page 45. I was at first very unwilling +to consent, as I thought Mr. Wallace might consider my doing so +unjustifiable, for I did not then know how generous and noble was his +disposition. The extract from my MS. and the letter to Asa Gray had +neither been intended for publication, and were badly written. Mr. +Wallace's essay, on the other hand, was admirably expressed and +quite clear. Nevertheless, our joint productions excited very little +attention, and the only published notice of them which I can remember +was by Professor Haughton of Dublin, whose verdict was that all that +was new in them was false, and what was true was old. This shows how +necessary it is that any new view should be explained at considerable +length in order to arouse public attention. + +In September 1858 I set to work by the strong advice of Lyell and Hooker +to prepare a volume on the transmutation of species, but was often +interrupted by ill-health, and short visits to Dr. Lane's delightful +hydropathic establishment at Moor Park. I abstracted the MS. begun on a +much larger scale in 1856, and completed the volume on the same reduced +scale. It cost me thirteen months and ten days' hard labour. It was +published under the title of the 'Origin of Species,' in November 1859. +Though considerably added to and corrected in the later editions, it has +remained substantially the same book. + +It is no doubt the chief work of my life. It was from the first highly +successful. The first small edition of 1250 copies was sold on the day +of publication, and a second edition of 3000 copies soon afterwards. +Sixteen thousand copies have now (1876) been sold in England; and +considering how stiff a book it is, this is a large sale. It has been +translated into almost every European tongue, even into such languages +as Spanish, Bohemian, Polish, and Russian. It has also, according to +Miss Bird, been translated into Japanese (Miss Bird is mistaken, as I +learn from Prof. Mitsukuri.--F.D.), and is there much studied. Even an +essay in Hebrew has appeared on it, showing that the theory is contained +in the Old Testament! The reviews were very numerous; for some time I +collected all that appeared on the 'Origin' and on my related books, and +these amount (excluding newspaper reviews) to 265; but after a time I +gave up the attempt in despair. Many separate essays and books on the +subject have appeared; and in Germany a catalogue or bibliography on +"Darwinismus" has appeared every year or two. + +The success of the 'Origin' may, I think, be attributed in large part to +my having long before written two condensed sketches, and to my having +finally abstracted a much larger manuscript, which was itself an +abstract. By this means I was enabled to select the more striking facts +and conclusions. I had, also, during many years followed a golden rule, +namely, that whenever a published fact, a new observation or thought +came across me, which was opposed to my general results, to make a +memorandum of it without fail and at once; for I had found by experience +that such facts and thoughts were far more apt to escape from the memory +than favourable ones. Owing to this habit, very few objections were +raised against my views which I had not at least noticed and attempted +to answer. + +It has sometimes been said that the success of the 'Origin' proved "that +the subject was in the air," or "that men's minds were prepared for it." +I do not think that this is strictly true, for I occasionally sounded +not a few naturalists, and never happened to come across a single one +who seemed to doubt about the permanence of species. Even Lyell and +Hooker, though they would listen with interest to me, never seemed to +agree. I tried once or twice to explain to able men what I meant by +Natural Selection, but signally failed. What I believe was strictly +true is that innumerable well-observed facts were stored in the minds +of naturalists ready to take their proper places as soon as any theory +which would receive them was sufficiently explained. Another element +in the success of the book was its moderate size; and this I owe to the +appearance of Mr. Wallace's essay; had I published on the scale in which +I began to write in 1856, the book would have been four or five times as +large as the 'Origin,' and very few would have had the patience to read +it. + +I gained much by my delay in publishing from about 1839, when the theory +was clearly conceived, to 1859; and I lost nothing by it, for I cared +very little whether men attributed most originality to me or Wallace; +and his essay no doubt aided in the reception of the theory. I was +forestalled in only one important point, which my vanity has always made +me regret, namely, the explanation by means of the Glacial period of +the presence of the same species of plants and of some few animals on +distant mountain summits and in the arctic regions. This view pleased me +so much that I wrote it out in extenso, and I believe that it was read +by Hooker some years before E. Forbes published his celebrated memoir +('Geolog. Survey Mem.,' 1846.) on the subject. In the very few points in +which we differed, I still think that I was in the right. I have never, +of course, alluded in print to my having independently worked out this +view. + +Hardly any point gave me so much satisfaction when I was at work on +the 'Origin,' as the explanation of the wide difference in many classes +between the embryo and the adult animal, and of the close resemblance of +the embryos within the same class. No notice of this point was taken, as +far as I remember, in the early reviews of the 'Origin,' and I recollect +expressing my surprise on this head in a letter to Asa Gray. Within late +years several reviewers have given the whole credit to Fritz Muller and +Hackel, who undoubtedly have worked it out much more fully, and in some +respects more correctly than I did. I had materials for a whole chapter +on the subject, and I ought to have made the discussion longer; for it +is clear that I failed to impress my readers; and he who succeeds in +doing so deserves, in my opinion, all the credit. + +This leads me to remark that I have almost always been treated honestly +by my reviewers, passing over those without scientific knowledge as +not worthy of notice. My views have often been grossly misrepresented, +bitterly opposed and ridiculed, but this has been generally done, as I +believe, in good faith. On the whole I do not doubt that my works have +been over and over again greatly overpraised. I rejoice that I have +avoided controversies, and this I owe to Lyell, who many years ago, +in reference to my geological works, strongly advised me never to get +entangled in a controversy, as it rarely did any good and caused a +miserable loss of time and temper. + +Whenever I have found out that I have blundered, or that my work has +been imperfect, and when I have been contemptuously criticised, and even +when I have been overpraised, so that I have felt mortified, it has +been my greatest comfort to say hundreds of times to myself that "I +have worked as hard and as well as I could, and no man can do more +than this." I remember when in Good Success Bay, in Tierra del Fuego, +thinking (and, I believe, that I wrote home to the effect) that I could +not employ my life better than in adding a little to Natural Science. +This I have done to the best of my abilities, and critics may say what +they like, but they cannot destroy this conviction. + +During the two last months of 1859 I was fully occupied in preparing a +second edition of the 'Origin,' and by an enormous correspondence. +On January 1st, 1860, I began arranging my notes for my work on the +'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication;' but it was not +published until the beginning of 1868; the delay having been caused +partly by frequent illnesses, one of which lasted seven months, and +partly by being tempted to publish on other subjects which at the time +interested me more. + +On May 15th, 1862, my little book on the 'Fertilisation of Orchids,' +which cost me ten months' work, was published: most of the facts had +been slowly accumulated during several previous years. During the summer +of 1839, and, I believe, during the previous summer, I was led to attend +to the cross-fertilisation of flowers by the aid of insects, from having +come to the conclusion in my speculations on the origin of species, that +crossing played an important part in keeping specific forms constant. I +attended to the subject more or less during every subsequent summer; and +my interest in it was greatly enhanced by having procured and read +in November 1841, through the advice of Robert Brown, a copy of C.K. +Sprengel's wonderful book, 'Das entdeckte Geheimniss der Natur.' For +some years before 1862 I had specially attended to the fertilisation +of our British orchids; and it seemed to me the best plan to prepare as +complete a treatise on this group of plants as well as I could, rather +than to utilise the great mass of matter which I had slowly collected +with respect to other plants. + +My resolve proved a wise one; for since the appearance of my book, a +surprising number of papers and separate works on the fertilisation of +all kinds of flowers have appeared: and these are far better done than +I could possibly have effected. The merits of poor old Sprengel, so long +overlooked, are now fully recognised many years after his death. + +During the same year I published in the 'Journal of the Linnean Society' +a paper "On the Two Forms, or Dimorphic Condition of Primula," +and during the next five years, five other papers on dimorphic and +trimorphic plants. I do not think anything in my scientific life has +given me so much satisfaction as making out the meaning of the structure +of these plants. I had noticed in 1838 or 1839 the dimorphism of Linum +flavum, and had at first thought that it was merely a case of unmeaning +variability. But on examining the common species of Primula I found that +the two forms were much too regular and constant to be thus viewed. I +therefore became almost convinced that the common cowslip and primrose +were on the high road to become dioecious;--that the short pistil in the +one form, and the short stamens in the other form were tending towards +abortion. The plants were therefore subjected under this point of view +to trial; but as soon as the flowers with short pistils fertilised with +pollen from the short stamens, were found to yield more seeds than any +other of the four possible unions, the abortion-theory was knocked on +the head. After some additional experiment, it became evident that the +two forms, though both were perfect hermaphrodites, bore almost the same +relation to one another as do the two sexes of an ordinary animal. With +Lythrum we have the still more wonderful case of three forms standing in +a similar relation to one another. I afterwards found that the offspring +from the union of two plants belonging to the same forms presented a +close and curious analogy with hybrids from the union of two distinct +species. + +In the autumn of 1864 I finished a long paper on 'Climbing Plants,' and +sent it to the Linnean Society. The writing of this paper cost me four +months; but I was so unwell when I received the proof-sheets that I was +forced to leave them very badly and often obscurely expressed. The paper +was little noticed, but when in 1875 it was corrected and published as a +separate book it sold well. I was led to take up this subject by reading +a short paper by Asa Gray, published in 1858. He sent me seeds, and +on raising some plants I was so much fascinated and perplexed by the +revolving movements of the tendrils and stems, which movements are +really very simple, though appearing at first sight very complex, that +I procured various other kinds of climbing plants, and studied the +whole subject. I was all the more attracted to it, from not being at all +satisfied with the explanation which Henslow gave us in his lectures, +about twining plants, namely, that they had a natural tendency to grow +up in a spire. This explanation proved quite erroneous. Some of the +adaptations displayed by Climbing Plants are as beautiful as those of +Orchids for ensuring cross-fertilisation. + +My 'Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication' was begun, as +already stated, in the beginning of 1860, but was not published until +the beginning of 1868. It was a big book, and cost me four years and two +months' hard labour. It gives all my observations and an immense number +of facts collected from various sources, about our domestic productions. +In the second volume the causes and laws of variation, inheritance, +etc., are discussed as far as our present state of knowledge permits. +Towards the end of the work I give my well-abused hypothesis of +Pangenesis. An unverified hypothesis is of little or no value; but if +anyone should hereafter be led to make observations by which some such +hypothesis could be established, I shall have done good service, as an +astonishing number of isolated facts can be thus connected together and +rendered intelligible. In 1875 a second and largely corrected edition, +which cost me a good deal of labour, was brought out. + +My 'Descent of Man' was published in February, 1871. As soon as I had +become, in the year 1837 or 1838, convinced that species were mutable +productions, I could not avoid the belief that man must come under +the same law. Accordingly I collected notes on the subject for my own +satisfaction, and not for a long time with any intention of publishing. +Although in the 'Origin of Species' the derivation of any particular +species is never discussed, yet I thought it best, in order that no +honourable man should accuse me of concealing my views, to add that by +the work "light would be thrown on the origin of man and his history." +It would have been useless and injurious to the success of the book to +have paraded, without giving any evidence, my conviction with respect to +his origin. + +But when I found that many naturalists fully accepted the doctrine of +the evolution of species, it seemed to me advisable to work up such +notes as I possessed, and to publish a special treatise on the origin of +man. I was the more glad to do so, as it gave me an opportunity of +fully discussing sexual selection--a subject which had always greatly +interested me. This subject, and that of the variation of our +domestic productions, together with the causes and laws of variation, +inheritance, and the intercrossing of plants, are the sole subjects +which I have been able to write about in full, so as to use all the +materials which I have collected. The 'Descent of Man' took me three +years to write, but then as usual some of this time was lost by ill +health, and some was consumed by preparing new editions and other minor +works. A second and largely corrected edition of the 'Descent' appeared +in 1874. + +My book on the 'Expression of the Emotions in Men and Animals' was +published in the autumn of 1872. I had intended to give only a chapter +on the subject in the 'Descent of Man,' but as soon as I began to put my +notes together, I saw that it would require a separate treatise. + +My first child was born on December 27th, 1839, and I at once commenced +to make notes on the first dawn of the various expressions which he +exhibited, for I felt convinced, even at this early period, that the +most complex and fine shades of expression must all have had a gradual +and natural origin. During the summer of the following year, 1840, +I read Sir C. Bell's admirable work on expression, and this greatly +increased the interest which I felt in the subject, though I could not +at all agree with his belief that various muscles had been specially +created for the sake of expression. From this time forward I +occasionally attended to the subject, both with respect to man and our +domesticated animals. My book sold largely; 5267 copies having been +disposed of on the day of publication. + +In the summer of 1860 I was idling and resting near Hartfield, where two +species of Drosera abound; and I noticed that numerous insects had been +entrapped by the leaves. I carried home some plants, and on giving them +insects saw the movements of the tentacles, and this made me think +it probable that the insects were caught for some special purpose. +Fortunately a crucial test occurred to me, that of placing a large +number of leaves in various nitrogenous and non-nitrogenous fluids of +equal density; and as soon as I found that the former alone excited +energetic movements, it was obvious that here was a fine new field for +investigation. + +During subsequent years, whenever I had leisure, I pursued my +experiments, and my book on 'Insectivorous Plants' was published in July +1875--that is, sixteen years after my first observations. The delay in +this case, as with all my other books, has been a great advantage to me; +for a man after a long interval can criticise his own work, almost as +well as if it were that of another person. The fact that a plant should +secrete, when properly excited, a fluid containing an acid and ferment, +closely analogous to the digestive fluid of an animal, was certainly a +remarkable discovery. + +During this autumn of 1876 I shall publish on the 'Effects of Cross +and Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom.' This book will form a +complement to that on the 'Fertilisation of Orchids,' in which I showed +how perfect were the means for cross-fertilisation, and here I shall +show how important are the results. I was led to make, during eleven +years, the numerous experiments recorded in this volume, by a mere +accidental observation; and indeed it required the accident to be +repeated before my attention was thoroughly aroused to the remarkable +fact that seedlings of self-fertilised parentage are inferior, even +in the first generation, in height and vigour to seedlings of +cross-fertilised parentage. I hope also to republish a revised edition +of my book on Orchids, and hereafter my papers on dimorphic and +trimorphic plants, together with some additional observations on allied +points which I never have had time to arrange. My strength will then +probably be exhausted, and I shall be ready to exclaim "Nunc dimittis." + + + + +WRITTEN MAY 1ST, 1881. + +'The Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilisation' was published in the +autumn of 1876; and the results there arrived at explain, as I believe, +the endless and wonderful contrivances for the transportal of pollen +from one plant to another of the same species. I now believe, however, +chiefly from the observations of Hermann Muller, that I ought to +have insisted more strongly than I did on the many adaptations for +self-fertilisation; though I was well aware of many such adaptations. A +much enlarged edition of my 'Fertilisation of Orchids' was published in +1877. + +In this same year 'The Different Forms of Flowers, etc.,' appeared, +and in 1880 a second edition. This book consists chiefly of the several +papers on Heterostyled flowers originally published by the Linnean +Society, corrected, with much new matter added, together with +observations on some other cases in which the same plant bears two kinds +of flowers. As before remarked, no little discovery of mine ever gave me +so much pleasure as the making out the meaning of heterostyled flowers. +The results of crossing such flowers in an illegitimate manner, I +believe to be very important, as bearing on the sterility of hybrids; +although these results have been noticed by only a few persons. + +In 1879, I had a translation of Dr. Ernst Krause's 'Life of Erasmus +Darwin' published, and I added a sketch of his character and habits from +material in my possession. Many persons have been much interested by +this little life, and I am surprised that only 800 or 900 copies were +sold. + +In 1880 I published, with [my son] Frank's assistance, our 'Power of +Movement in Plants.' This was a tough piece of work. The book bears +somewhat the same relation to my little book on 'Climbing Plants,' which +'Cross-Fertilisation' did to the 'Fertilisation of Orchids;' for in +accordance with the principle of evolution it was impossible to account +for climbing plants having been developed in so many widely different +groups unless all kinds of plants possess some slight power of movement +of an analogous kind. This I proved to be the case; and I was further +led to a rather wide generalisation, viz. that the great and important +classes of movements, excited by light, the attraction of gravity, etc., +are all modified forms of the fundamental movement of circumnutation. It +has always pleased me to exalt plants in the scale of organised beings; +and I therefore felt an especial pleasure in showing how many and what +admirably well adapted movements the tip of a root possesses. + +I have now (May 1, 1881) sent to the printers the MS. of a little book +on 'The Formation of Vegetable Mould, through the Action of Worms.' This +is a subject of but small importance; and I know not whether it will +interest any readers (Between November 1881 and February 1884, 8500 +copies have been sold.), but it has interested me. It is the completion +of a short paper read before the Geological Society more than forty +years ago, and has revived old geological thoughts. + +I have now mentioned all the books which I have published, and these +have been the milestones in my life, so that little remains to be said. +I am not conscious of any change in my mind during the last thirty +years, excepting in one point presently to be mentioned; nor, indeed, +could any change have been expected unless one of general deterioration. +But my father lived to his eighty-third year with his mind as lively as +ever it was, and all his faculties undimmed; and I hope that I may die +before my mind fails to a sensible extent. I think that I have become +a little more skilful in guessing right explanations and in devising +experimental tests; but this may probably be the result of mere +practice, and of a larger store of knowledge. I have as much difficulty +as ever in expressing myself clearly and concisely; and this difficulty +has caused me a very great loss of time; but it has had the compensating +advantage of forcing me to think long and intently about every sentence, +and thus I have been led to see errors in reasoning and in my own +observations or those of others. + +There seems to be a sort of fatality in my mind leading me to put at +first my statement or proposition in a wrong or awkward form. Formerly +I used to think about my sentences before writing them down; but for +several years I have found that it saves time to scribble in a vile hand +whole pages as quickly as I possibly can, contracting half the words; +and then correct deliberately. Sentences thus scribbled down are often +better ones than I could have written deliberately. + +Having said thus much about my manner of writing, I will add that with +my large books I spend a good deal of time over the general arrangement +of the matter. I first make the rudest outline in two or three pages, +and then a larger one in several pages, a few words or one word standing +for a whole discussion or series of facts. Each one of these headings is +again enlarged and often transferred before I begin to write in extenso. +As in several of my books facts observed by others have been very +extensively used, and as I have always had several quite distinct +subjects in hand at the same time, I may mention that I keep from thirty +to forty large portfolios, in cabinets with labelled shelves, into which +I can at once put a detached reference or memorandum. I have bought many +books, and at their ends I make an index of all the facts that concern +my work; or, if the book is not my own, write out a separate abstract, +and of such abstracts I have a large drawer full. Before beginning +on any subject I look to all the short indexes and make a general and +classified index, and by taking the one or more proper portfolios I have +all the information collected during my life ready for use. + +I have said that in one respect my mind has changed during the last +twenty or thirty years. Up to the age of thirty, or beyond it, poetry +of many kinds, such as the works of Milton, Gray, Byron, Wordsworth, +Coleridge, and Shelley, gave me great pleasure, and even as a schoolboy +I took intense delight in Shakespeare, especially in the historical +plays. I have also said that formerly pictures gave me considerable, and +music very great delight. But now for many years I cannot endure to read +a line of poetry: I have tried lately to read Shakespeare, and found +it so intolerably dull that it nauseated me. I have also almost lost +my taste for pictures or music. Music generally sets me thinking too +energetically on what I have been at work on, instead of giving me +pleasure. I retain some taste for fine scenery, but it does not cause me +the exquisite delight which it formerly did. On the other hand, novels +which are works of the imagination, though not of a very high order, +have been for years a wonderful relief and pleasure to me, and I often +bless all novelists. A surprising number have been read aloud to me, and +I like all if moderately good, and if they do not end unhappily--against +which a law ought to be passed. A novel, according to my taste, does not +come into the first class unless it contains some person whom one can +thoroughly love, and if a pretty woman all the better. + +This curious and lamentable loss of the higher aesthetic tastes is all +the odder, as books on history, biographies, and travels (independently +of any scientific facts which they may contain), and essays on all sorts +of subjects interest me as much as ever they did. My mind seems to +have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws out of large +collections of facts, but why this should have caused the atrophy of +that part of the brain alone, on which the higher tastes depend, I +cannot conceive. A man with a mind more highly organised or better +constituted than mine, would not, I suppose, have thus suffered; and +if I had to live my life again, I would have made a rule to read some +poetry and listen to some music at least once every week; for perhaps +the parts of my brain now atrophied would thus have been kept active +through use. The loss of these tastes is a loss of happiness, and may +possibly be injurious to the intellect, and more probably to the moral +character, by enfeebling the emotional part of our nature. + +My books have sold largely in England, have been translated into many +languages, and passed through several editions in foreign countries. I +have heard it said that the success of a work abroad is the best test +of its enduring value. I doubt whether this is at all trustworthy; but +judged by this standard my name ought to last for a few years. Therefore +it may be worth while to try to analyse the mental qualities and the +conditions on which my success has depended; though I am aware that no +man can do this correctly. + +I have no great quickness of apprehension or wit which is so remarkable +in some clever men, for instance, Huxley. I am therefore a poor critic: +a paper or book, when first read, generally excites my admiration, +and it is only after considerable reflection that I perceive the weak +points. My power to follow a long and purely abstract train of thought +is very limited; and therefore I could never have succeeded with +metaphysics or mathematics. My memory is extensive, yet hazy: it +suffices to make me cautious by vaguely telling me that I have observed +or read something opposed to the conclusion which I am drawing, or +on the other hand in favour of it; and after a time I can generally +recollect where to search for my authority. So poor in one sense is my +memory, that I have never been able to remember for more than a few days +a single date or a line of poetry. + +Some of my critics have said, "Oh, he is a good observer, but he has +no power of reasoning!" I do not think that this can be true, for the +'Origin of Species' is one long argument from the beginning to the end, +and it has convinced not a few able men. No one could have written +it without having some power of reasoning. I have a fair share of +invention, and of common sense or judgment, such as every fairly +successful lawyer or doctor must have, but not, I believe, in any higher +degree. + +On the favourable side of the balance, I think that I am superior to the +common run of men in noticing things which easily escape attention, and +in observing them carefully. My industry has been nearly as great as it +could have been in the observation and collection of facts. What is far +more important, my love of natural science has been steady and ardent. + +This pure love has, however, been much aided by the ambition to be +esteemed by my fellow naturalists. From my early youth I have had the +strongest desire to understand or explain whatever I observed,--that is, +to group all facts under some general laws. These causes combined have +given me the patience to reflect or ponder for any number of years over +any unexplained problem. As far as I can judge, I am not apt to follow +blindly the lead of other men. I have steadily endeavoured to keep my +mind free so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved (and I +cannot resist forming one on every subject), as soon as facts are shown +to be opposed to it. Indeed, I have had no choice but to act in this +manner, for with the exception of the Coral Reefs, I cannot remember a +single first-formed hypothesis which had not after a time to be given +up or greatly modified. This has naturally led me to distrust greatly +deductive reasoning in the mixed sciences. On the other hand, I am not +very sceptical,--a frame of mind which I believe to be injurious to the +progress of science. A good deal of scepticism in a scientific man is +advisable to avoid much loss of time, but I have met with not a few +men, who, I feel sure, have often thus been deterred from experiment +or observations, which would have proved directly or indirectly +serviceable. + +In illustration, I will give the oddest case which I have known. A +gentleman (who, as I afterwards heard, is a good local botanist) wrote +to me from the Eastern counties that the seed or beans of the common +field-bean had this year everywhere grown on the wrong side of the pod. +I wrote back, asking for further information, as I did not understand +what was meant; but I did not receive any answer for a very long time. +I then saw in two newspapers, one published in Kent and the other in +Yorkshire, paragraphs stating that it was a most remarkable fact that +"the beans this year had all grown on the wrong side." So I thought +there must be some foundation for so general a statement. Accordingly, +I went to my gardener, an old Kentish man, and asked him whether he had +heard anything about it, and he answered, "Oh, no, sir, it must be a +mistake, for the beans grow on the wrong side only on leap-year, and +this is not leap-year." I then asked him how they grew in common years +and how on leap-years, but soon found that he knew absolutely nothing of +how they grew at any time, but he stuck to his belief. + +After a time I heard from my first informant, who, with many apologies, +said that he should not have written to me had he not heard the +statement from several intelligent farmers; but that he had since spoken +again to every one of them, and not one knew in the least what he had +himself meant. So that here a belief--if indeed a statement with no +definite idea attached to it can be called a belief--had spread over +almost the whole of England without any vestige of evidence. + +I have known in the course of my life only three intentionally falsified +statements, and one of these may have been a hoax (and there have +been several scientific hoaxes) which, however, took in an American +Agricultural Journal. It related to the formation in Holland of a new +breed of oxen by the crossing of distinct species of Bos (some of which +I happen to know are sterile together), and the author had the impudence +to state that he had corresponded with me, and that I had been deeply +impressed with the importance of his result. The article was sent to me +by the editor of an English Agricultural Journal, asking for my opinion +before republishing it. + +A second case was an account of several varieties, raised by the author +from several species of Primula, which had spontaneously yielded a +full complement of seed, although the parent plants had been carefully +protected from the access of insects. This account was published before +I had discovered the meaning of heterostylism, and the whole statement +must have been fraudulent, or there was neglect in excluding insects so +gross as to be scarcely credible. + +The third case was more curious: Mr. Huth published in his book on +'Consanguineous Marriage' some long extracts from a Belgian author, who +stated that he had interbred rabbits in the closest manner for very +many generations, without the least injurious effects. The account was +published in a most respectable Journal, that of the Royal Society of +Belgium; but I could not avoid feeling doubts--I hardly know why, except +that there were no accidents of any kind, and my experience in breeding +animals made me think this very improbable. + +So with much hesitation I wrote to Professor Van Beneden, asking him +whether the author was a trustworthy man. I soon heard in answer that +the Society had been greatly shocked by discovering that the whole +account was a fraud. (The falseness of the published statements on which +Mr. Huth relied has been pointed out by himself in a slip inserted in +all the copies of his book which then remained unsold.) The writer had +been publicly challenged in the Journal to say where he had resided and +kept his large stock of rabbits while carrying on his experiments, which +must have consumed several years, and no answer could be extracted from +him. + +My habits are methodical, and this has been of not a little use for +my particular line of work. Lastly, I have had ample leisure from not +having to earn my own bread. Even ill-health, though it has annihilated +several years of my life, has saved me from the distractions of society +and amusement. + +Therefore my success as a man of science, whatever this may have +amounted to, has been determined, as far as I can judge, by complex +and diversified mental qualities and conditions. Of these, the most +important have been--the love of science--unbounded patience in long +reflecting over any subject--industry in observing and collecting +facts--and a fair share of invention as well as of common sense. With +such moderate abilities as I possess, it is truly surprising that I +should have influenced to a considerable extent the belief of scientific +men on some important points. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, by +Charles Darwin + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DARWIN *** + +***** This file should be named 2010.txt or 2010.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/1/2010/ + +Produced by Sue Asscher + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |