188 EMINENT NATURALISTS. 



in the spring of 1817 they departed for Rome. By this 

 time he had become a confirmed dilettante, and his 

 copious notes on pictures and works of art show that 

 he was most enthusiastic and active in his new-found 

 occupation. His criticisms on the works of the great 

 Italian masters alternate with observations on the Forum, 

 the tomb of Cecilia Metella, the baths of Caracalla, and 

 the Grotto of Egeria, and with anecdotes of Canova, 

 whose acquaintance he made. In these two years he was 

 sowing seed which would bear fruit afterwards. Through 

 art he owed his first introduction to an intellectual life ; 

 it was not art which was to be his future stimulus, but 

 it was for him the starting-point of a new career, and it 

 was the first step in the direction of the work and of 

 the honours which he was to achieve. Mrs. Murchison 

 had gained the first victory in her campaign, but it was 

 for a time obscured by intervening defeats. 



On their return from Italy they discovered that the 

 Tarradale Estate had been sold, and they had no alterna- 

 tive but to take up their abode in an old mansion at 

 Barnard Castle. The only recreation for him here was 

 in the sports of the field, into which Murchison threw 

 himself with his usual indomitable energy. His wife 

 endeavoured, but unsuccessfully, to direct his mind into 

 the study of botany and mineralogy, and for some time 

 he enjoyed the reputation of having the finest stud and 

 being one of the hardest riders in the country. How 

 this period of his life closed will be best told in his own 

 words, written forty years afterwards. 



" As time rolled on I got blasi and tired of all fox- 

 hunting life. In the summer following the hunting 



