CHAPTER IX. 



MISCELLANEA (cO?liinued) — A REVIVAL OF GEOLOGICAL WORK 

 THE BOOK ON EARTHWORMS — LIFE OF ERASMUS DAR- 

 WIN — MISCELLANEOUS LETTERS. 



1876-1882. 



[We have now to consider the work (other than botanical) 

 which occupied the concluding six years of my father's life. 

 A letter to his old friend Rev. L. Blomefield (Jenyns), written 

 in March, 1877, shows what was my father's estimate of his 

 own powers of work at this time : — 



" My DEAR Jenyns (I see I have forgotten your proper 

 names). — Your extremely kind letter has given me warm 

 pleasure. As one gets old, one's thoughts turn back to the 

 past rather than to the future, and I often think of the 

 pleasant, and to me valuable, hours which I spent with you 

 on the borders of the Fens. 



" You ask about my future work ; I doubt whether I shall 

 be able to do much more that is new, and I always keep 



before my mind the example of poor old , who in his old 



age had a cacoethes for writing. But I cannot endure doing 

 nothing, so I suppose that I shall go on as long as I can 

 without obviously making a fool of myself. I have a great 

 mass of matter with respect to variation under nature ; but so 

 much has been published since the appearance of the ' Origin 

 of Species,' that I very much doubt whether I retain power of 

 mind and strength to reduce the mass into a digested whole. 

 I have sometimes thought that I would try, but dread the 

 attempt. . . ." 



