PREFACE ix 



friends, and any notable men of science who might 

 be visiting Cambridge, were highly popular. Mr. 

 Wollaston testifies to their value from the under- 

 graduate point of view. 



Professor Newton was an indefatigable worker, 

 never without some piece of scientific literature on 

 hand, and often more than one. He was a keen critic 

 of others, and not less of himself. He would write 

 and re-write his compositions several times before they 

 came up to his standard of arrangement and style. 

 Above all he strove to secure accuracy in his own 

 statements, and in his references and quotations. The 

 pains taken by him with this object sometimes led to 

 serious delays in the completion of his manuscript, 

 which brought strong protests from the publishers, 

 who had no sympathy with what they regarded as 

 meticulous labour. If their complaints did not alter 

 his habit, they at least filled him with indignation 

 against the whole publishing tribe. 



Newton was a strong Conservative, instinctively 

 opposed to the abrogation of any ancient usage. This 

 resolute stand on the antiquas vias led him occasionally 

 into whimsical positions, some of which are alluded to 

 in the following chapters. Yet it is nevertheless true 

 that he was one of the earliest naturalists in this 

 country to accept Darwin's explanation of the origin of 

 species. Not only did he receive with joy and admira- 

 tion this momentous revolution in scientific thought, 



O ' 



he actually made some effort to induce his brother 

 naturalists to do likewise, but without success. 



The reader of the volume mav, in some measure, 



* ' 



appreciate the personal charm which endeared the 

 Professor to those around him. His perennial bonhomie, 

 his youthful enthusiasms maintained up to the last, his 

 inexhaustible fund of anecdote and reminiscence, his 



