526 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



famous people of their time — Sidney Smith, Lady Romilly, Catalani, Von 

 Humboldt, and de Candolle, to mention only a few. 



Of the Wedgwood family at Maer Mrs. Henry Holland wrote in her Journal : 

 " I never saw anything pleasanter than the ways of going on in this family, and 

 one reason is the freedom of speech upon every subject ; there is no difference in 

 politics or principles of any kind that makes it treason to speak one's mind openly, 

 and they all do it. There is a simplicity of good sense about them, that no one 

 ever dreams of not differing upon any subject where they feel inclined." This 

 view will be readily endorsed by the reader of these well-chosen letters. Before 

 leaving this part one cannot help noting, in the light of recent happenings, the 

 opinion that one of the Aliens found prevalent in Paris in the autumn of 1815 : 

 " The women always spoke well of the English and otherwise of the Prussians, 

 who they said took everything ' d point de Pdpee? " 



The first volume contains but few of Emma Wedgwood's letters, but the 

 second, starting with her engagement to Charles Darwin, centres around her. In 

 it her daughter, Mrs. Litchfield, has done the same for her mother as the son did 

 for his father in The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin. The genealogical 

 tables of the Aliens, Wedgwoods, and Darwins that preface it are very useful, and 

 make it easy to grasp the somewhat complicated relationships of the three 

 families. It gives us a sympathetic account of a loving and much-loved mother 

 and wife. Here, as in the previous volume, glimpses of famous people flash into 

 its pages and form the subject of short paragraphs. Full though the domestic 

 life at Down was, there is over it all a shadow of gloom, and throughout the book 

 we find indications of Charles Darwin's constant struggle with ill-health. This 

 gloom is to some extent relieved by his wife's unremitting care and affection. 

 Much of his work was done, as we already know, in the intervals between his 

 illnesses, but here we have revealed the fact that through it all he always found time 

 for his family life. Things political must have been much the same in Darwin's 

 time as now, for we find that he was an ardent Liberal, but " at the same time he 

 often deplored the almost total lack of interest in science in the House of 

 Commons." 



Emma Darwin's character, as revealed by her letters, was an admirable one ; 

 she was very considerate and thoughtful, and the two on religion in particular, two 

 of the most appealing in the collection, show that she felt deeply and was not 

 lacking in courage. 



Mrs. Litchfield has performed the arduous task of selecting and editing these 

 family letters with zeal and taste, and the resulting volumes deserve much praise, 

 and are worthy of the people with whom they deal. Throughout they command 

 attention, and by their means the reader is privileged to enter into the pursuits, 

 recreations, and thoughts of these noteworthy families. The scientific side of 

 Darwin's life has long been known to the world, and in these books we have 

 available an account of his home life, centred, as it should be, around his wife 

 Emma, to whom he owed so much. 



C. H. O'D. 



Rifles and Ammunition, and Rifle Shooting. By H. Ommundsen, G.M., G.C., 

 and Ernest H. Robinson. [Pp. xvi + 335, with 65 plates and many other 

 illustrations.] (London: Cassell & Co., 1915. Price 21 s.) 



The senior author of this book was killed in action shortly after its publication, 

 thus realising a possibility which is quietly contemplated in the preface, where the 



