RISE OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT 4^5 



work which only entailed reasoning. Of course, he was a 

 great reader, but for books as books he had no respect, often 

 cutting large ones in two in order to make them easier to 

 hold while in use. 



Darwin's Early Life. Charles Darwin was born in 1809 

 at Shrewsbury, England, of distinguished ancestry, his grand- 

 father being the famous Dr. Erasmus Darwin, the founder, 

 as we have seen, of a theory of evolution. In his youth he 

 gave no indication of future greatness. He was sent to 

 Edinburgh to study medicine, but left there after two sessions, 

 at the suggestion of his father, to study for the Church. He 



oo 



then went to the University of Cambridge, where he remained 

 three years, listening to "incredibly dull lectures." After 

 taking his baccalaureate degree, came the event which 

 proved, as Darwin says, "the turning-point of my life." 

 This was his appointment as naturalist on the surveying 

 expedition about to be entered upon by the ship Beagle. In 

 Cambridge he had manifested an interest in scientific study, 

 and had been encouraged by Professor Henslow, to whom 

 he was also indebted for the recommendation to the post on 

 the Beagle. An amusing circumstance connected with his 

 appointment is that he was nearly rejected by Captain Fitz- 

 Roy, who doubted "whether a man with such a shaped nose 

 could possess sufficient energy and determination for the 



voyage." 



Voyage of the Beagle.- -The voyage of the Beagle ex- 

 tended over five years (1831-1836), mainly along the west 

 coast of South America. It was on this voyage that Darwin 

 acquired the habit of constant industry. He had also oppor- 

 tunity to take long trips on shore, engaged in observation 

 and in making extensive collections. He observed nature in 

 the field under exceptional circumstances. As he traveled 

 he noted fossil forms in rocks as well as the living forms in 

 field and forest. He observed the correspondence in type 



