130 PROFESSORSHIP OF GEOLOGY CHAP, iv 



This was the hardest duty we had to perform. On 

 public grounds, our men were well pleased that things 

 went off quietly ; but as private individuals, many 

 seemed rather disappointed that there was no scrim- 

 mage, especially Bone and J. A. Phillips, who were very 

 bloodily inclined. Salter was evidently in a funk, and 

 kept up his spirits all day by whistling psalm tunes.' 



One of the pleasantest interludes of Ramsay's life 

 this winter in London was a visit paid by him to 

 Darwin's hospitable home in Kent, when Lyell and 

 his wife, Owen and Forbes were likewise guests. It 

 was a brief sojourn from Saturday to Monday, of 

 which he records : 



' i$th February, Sunday. Rose betimes, had a 

 walk in the gardens, and came in to breakfast. Set 

 to work after, and read and thought over Hopkins's 

 views as shown in Jameson's Journal, and when found 

 made a note. After lunch Forbes, Owen, Lyell, and 

 I had a walk in Sir John Lubbock's park, and saw a 

 number of things pleasant to look upon, in spite of a 

 tendency to drizzling. Nice cosy chat, too, before and 

 after dinner. Darwin is an enviable man a pleasant 

 place, a nice wife, a nice family, station neither too 

 high nor too low, a good moderate fortune, and the 

 command of his own time. After tea Mrs. Darwin 

 and one of her sisters played some of Mendelssohn's 

 duets, etc. etc., all very charming. I never enjoyed 

 myself more. Forbes came to my room before going 

 to bed, and gave me a sketch of his coming lecture on 

 generic centres. Lyell is a much more amusing man 

 than I gave him credit for. Mrs. Lyell is a charming 

 person pretty, lively, and full of faith in, and admira- 

 tion of, her husband. 



' Mr. and Mrs. Lyell told some capital stories about 



