DARWIN. 15 



Black, Cullen, and Gregory, and had also studied at 

 Leyden, and travelled in Germany. In 1786 his father 

 set him up in practice at Shrewsbury, leaving him with 

 twenty pounds, which was afterwards supplemented by a 

 similar sum from his uncle, John Darwin, Rector of 

 Elston. On this slender capital he contrived to establish 

 himself, in spite of severe competition; and his burly 

 form and countenance, as he sat in his invariable yellow 

 chaise, became well known to every man, woman, and 

 child around Shrewsbury for many miles. Before long, 

 no one thought of sending to Birmingham for a con- 

 sultant, and Dr. Darwin was for many years the leading 

 Shropshire physician, and accumulated an abundant 

 fortune. 



According to his son Charles, Robert Darwin " did not 

 inherit any aptitude for poetry or mechanics, nor did he 

 possess, as I think, a scientific mind. He published, in 

 vol. Ixxvi. of the ' Philosophical Transactions,' a paper 

 on Ocular Spectra, which Wheatstone told me was a 

 remarkable production for the period ; but I believe that 

 he was largely aided in writing it by his father. He was 

 elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788. I cannot 

 tell why my father's mind did not appear to me fitted for 

 advancing science, for he was fond of theorising, and was 

 incomparably the most acute observer whom I ever knew. 

 But his powers in this direction were exercised almost 

 wholly in the practice of medicine and in the observation 

 of human character. He intuitively recognised the dis- 

 position or character, and even read the thoughts, of those 

 with whom he came into contact, with extraordinary 

 astuteness. This skill partly accounts for his great 



