1880-1882] The Ladies Triumph at Cambridge 245 



Institution on the movements of plants and animals com- 

 pared. He gave a very good lecture. I was received with 

 great honour and placed by De la Rue alongside the chair- 

 man and was applauded on my entrance ! 



One experiment was very striking: the measurement of 

 the rate of transmission in man of the order to move a 

 muscle, and it took about o-^th of a second, the distance 

 being a little over 1 foot. I have been trying to have an 

 interview with the Duke of Argyll, who wrote 2 most civil 

 notes to me, dated " Privy Seal Office," and saying that 

 he would see me " here ' at 10.30. So I went to the 

 Office, and an old clerk expressed unbounded astonish- 

 ment, declaring, " Why he never comes here, he has nothing 

 to do here." So I must go to-morrow to Argyll House. . . . 



You will have heard of the triumph of the Ladies 1 at 

 Cambridge. The majority was so enormous that many 

 men on both sides did not think it worth voting. The 

 minority was received with jeers. Horace was sent to 

 the Ladies' College to communicate the success and was 

 received with enthusiasm. Prank and F. Galton went up 

 to vote. We had F. Galton to Down on last Sunday. He 

 was splendid fun and told us no end of odd things. 



Monday. I have just returned from a very long call on 

 the Duke of Argyll. He was very agreeable and we dis- 

 cussed many subjects, and he was not at all cocky. He 

 was awfully friendly and said he should come some day to 

 Down, and hoped I would come to Inverary. . . . 



Goodbye, dear old George. 



Your affectionate father, 



CH. DARWIN. 



There are many sentences in my mother's letters showing 

 the great happiness her little grandson Bernard gave her. 

 She wrote when he was away on a visit that she was thirsty 

 for " his little round face," and the following letter tells of 

 her sympathetic care for him when he was losing his nurse 



1 In Feb., 1881, a Grace of the Senate was passed by 398 against 32 

 giving women the right to present themselves for the ' ' Little-Go ' 

 and Tripos Examinations. 



