218 INVOLUTION [Chap. Ill 



letter 150 hard work to get him to allow me to send the \PrimuId\ paper to the 

 Linn. Soc, even after it was written out!" And this was after the 

 obviously genuine appreciation of the paper given in Darwin's letters. 

 Sir George King writes : — 



"„He had taught himself a little Latin and a good deal of French, 

 and he had read a good deal of English literature. He was certainly 

 one of the most remarkable self-taught men I ever met, and I often 

 regret that I did not see more of him . . . Scott's manner was shy and 

 modest almost to being apologetic ; and the condition of nervous tension 

 in which he seemed to live was indicated by frequent nervous gestures 

 with his hands and by the restless twisting of his long beard in which 

 he continuously indulged. He was grave and reserved ; but when he 

 became interested in any matter he talked freely, although always 

 deliberately, and he was always ready to defend his opinions with much 

 spirit. He had, moreover, a considerable sense of humour. What 

 struck me most about Scott' was the great acuteness of his powers of 

 observing natural phenomena, and especially of such as had any bearing 

 on variation, natural selection or hybridity. While most attentive to 

 the ordinary duties of the chief of a large garden, Scott always con- 

 tinued to find leisure for private study, and especially for the conduct 

 of experiments in hybridization. For the latter his position in the 

 Calcutta garden afforded him many facilities. At the time of his death 

 many experiments were in hand, but his records of these were too 

 imperfect to admit of their being taken up and continued after his 

 death. In temper Scott was most gentle and loveable, and to his 

 friends he was loyal almost to a fault. He was quite without ambition 

 to ' get on ' in the world ; he had no low or mean motives ; and than 

 John Scott, Natural Science probably had no more earnest and single- 

 minded devotee." ri862?l 



To the best of my judgment, no subject is so important in 

 relation to theoretical natural science, in several respects, and 

 likewise in itself deserving investigation, as the effects of 

 changed or unnatural conditions, or of changed structure on 

 the reproductive system. Under this point of view the 

 relation of well-marked but undoubted varieties in fertilising 

 each other requires far more experiments than have been 

 tried. See in the Origin the brief abstract of Gartner on 

 Verbascum and Zea. Mr. W. Crocker, lately foreman at Kcw 

 and a very good observer, is going at my suggestion to work 

 varieties of hollyhock. 1 The climate would be too cold, I 

 suppose, for varieties of tobacco. I began on cabbages, but 

 immediately stopped from early shedding of their pollen 

 causing too much trouble. Your knowledge would suggest 



1 Althcca sp. These experiments seem not to have been carried out. 



