vi Preface. 



have simply presented the story of his life, that of 

 one of the greatest naturalists of the age ; a life of 

 singular purity ; the life of a man who, in loftiness of 

 purpose and the accomplishment of grand results, 

 was the centre of observation in his time ; revered 

 and honored, yet maligned and attacked as few 

 have been. 



I have asked my readers to follow with me the 

 footsteps of the naturalist from school-days in Eng- 

 land to foreign shores, seeking to interest them in 

 the pursuits which he loved and to enable them to 

 observe the things which he saw, believing that in 

 this way the remarkable traits of the man as an 

 observer and thinker can be best and most forcibly 

 shown. I have had an object beyond that of simply 

 telHng his story, and one ^hich I believe would com- 

 mend itself to the great investigator were he living : 

 it is, by tracing and following his work and investiga- 

 tions, to encourage young men and women to emu- 

 late his methods, become students in the great field 

 of nature, and enjoy the delights of actual contact 

 with the world of which he was an active worker. 

 That such a career is ennobling I trust the following 

 pages will demonstrate. 



In the preparation of this volume I am indebted 

 to Francis Darwin, Esq., of Cambridge, England, 

 whose life of his father is the only work extant 

 giving fully the life and letters of the naturalist. My 

 thanks are also due the Biological Society of Wash- 

 ington for the extracts from the Darwin Memorial, 

 which I conceive to be of especial interest to Eng- 

 lish readers as an expression from the leading 



