1 1 6 DARWINIANISM. 



ing than in writing" he says (iii. 262); and again (to 

 Hooker), "there is an extraordinary pleasure in pure 

 observation," " after having been so long employed in 

 writing it is delightful to use one's eyes and fingers 

 again." The fingers only corollarily count ; but here are 

 the eyes and the observation. It is, similarly, only in the 

 practical direction that his son remarks (i. 150): "He 

 enjoyed experimenting much more than work which only 

 entailed reasoning." But, when the addition follows, 

 " it was perhaps this delight in work requiring observa- 

 tion that made him value praise given to his observing 

 powers almost more than appreciation of his other 

 qualities," one cannot help remembering the dissident 

 position in this avowal of Mr. Darwin's own (i. 103): 

 " Some of my critics have said, ' Oh, he is a good observer, 

 but he has no power of reasoning ! ' I do not think that 

 this can be true, for the Origin of Species is one long 

 argument from the beginning to the end." The philo- 

 sopher (Brown, say) wishes to have the praise of the 

 poet, and so Mr. Darwin, quite safe as an observer, can- 

 not help a wistful look to the ranks of the reasoners ; 

 Still, for all his hankering, and even his look, Charles 

 Darwin knows well that it is observation^ is his power. 

 As late as 1874 he writes (iii. 193): "I find that my 

 mind is so fixed by the inductive method, that I cannot 

 appreciate deductive reasoning: I must begin with a 

 good body of facts and then as much deduction as you 

 please." He had already confessed in 1872, "I know 

 not why, but I never feel convinced by deduction, even 

 in the case of H. Spencer's writings." What leads either 

 the deduction or the induction may be only the hereditary 

 bee ; but it is the "facts " here are the point : they came 

 to Darwin simply from observation and the eyes. 1 



1 Readers of the Journal will have fully in mind how Mr. 

 Darwin is only using his eyes there in every paragraph and almost 



