ch. ii.] CHARACTERISTICS. 55 



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 exten- 

 sive, 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 argu- 

 ment 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 be- 

 lieve, 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 care- 

 fully. 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 

 steadv 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 under- 

 stand 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 

 5 



