98 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



of little avail in helping a man towards his university degrees, 

 Mr. Darwin was too much occupied with biological work to 

 obtain distinction in the calendar, but in 1837 he obtained his 

 M.A. In 1877, however, when the former student at Christ's 

 had become the greatest naturalist of the age, Cambridge tardily 

 conferred on him her Honorary Doctorate of Laws. 



In his youth, it is said, Mr. Darwin was attached to field 

 sports, fox-hunting among them. It was possibly during this 

 period of outdoor exercise that much of the acute observation 

 of natural objects, which he afterwards developed, had its 

 foundation. 



Mr. Darwin's natural modesty made the future intellectual 

 giant, in his early manhood, but little known, and then only to 

 a small circle of friends. They, however, soon discovered his 

 exceptional talents, and when the Hon. Captain, afterwards 

 celebrated Admiral, Fitzroy took command of the surveying 

 vessels, ' Adventure ' and ' Beagle,' young Darwin was selected to 

 accompany the latter vessel as naturalist to the expedition, 

 which sailed on the 27th December, 1831. Nor was Mr. Darwin 

 in this work simply a hireling, for he received no remuneration, 

 and even contributed his own share of the expense in the four 

 years' voyage. This was not all, for he amassed fine collections, 

 a great part of which, on his return, he freely gave and distri- 

 buted amongst those specialists who were interested in various 

 branches of Natural History. The results were published 

 between 1839 and 1842 in official form, but edited by Mr. Darwin 

 himself, with special remarks on the habits of animals from his 

 own pen. In this work he was assisted by Professor Owen, 

 Mr. Bell, Mr. Waterhouse, and others. The country chiefly 

 visited on this voyage was the coast of South America, from 

 Buenos Ayres through the Straits of Magellan to Valparaiso. 

 His observations were, however, much extended, and included 

 the Galapagos, Australia, and many other places visited by the 

 ships in their circumnavigation. As a result of this voyage 

 Mr. Darwin's name will be handed down to posterity in North 

 Australia at Port Darwin, while in Tierra del Fuego are also 

 named after him a mountain and a sound. It was not, however, 

 all happiness with the subject of this memoir- during his pro- 

 tracted voyage, for Mr. Darwin suffered almost constantly from 

 sea-sickness, which in his case became chronic, and even in 



