2 4 o LIFE OF DARWIN 



regard as one of the greatest evils of his life that he 

 had not been urged to conquer his disgust and make 

 himself practically familiar with the details of human 

 anatomy. It is curious, too, to learn with what aversion 

 he regarded the instructions of the Professor of Natural 

 History in the University. Jameson could certainly 

 kindle, or at least stimulate, enthusiasm in some young 

 souls, as the brilliant band of naturalists trained under 

 him in Edward Forbes' time sufficiently proved. But 

 to others he undoubtedly was, what Darwin describes 

 him, ' incredibly dull.' If the professorial teaching 

 was defective, however, the loss seems to have been 

 in good measure made up by the companionship of 

 fellow-students of kindred tastes, with whom the 

 future naturalist explored the neighbourhood of Edin- 

 burgh. Collecting animals from the tidal pools of the 

 estuary of the Forth, and accompanying the Newhaven 

 fishermen in their dredging voyages for oysters, he 

 found plenty of material for study, and employed 

 himself in dissecting as well as he could. In the 

 course of these observations he made his first recorded 

 discovery, which was ' that the so-called ova of Flustra 

 had the power of independent movement by means 

 of cilia, and were, in fact, larvae.' As a part of his 

 love of Nature and out-of-door employments, he be- 

 came an ardent sportsman, rose even long before day, 

 in order to reach the ground betimes, and went to bed 

 with his shooting boots placed open close beside him, 

 that not a moment might be lost in getting into 

 them. 



When two sessions had been passed at Edinburgh 

 and no great zeal appeared for the medical profession, 



