Marriage of Darwin. 127 



where he always met congenial acquaintances. He 

 also varied his work with readings of the poets, 

 Wordsworth and Coleridge delighting him particular- 

 ly, while Milton's " Paradise Lost " was, as formerly, 

 a favourite. 



In January, 1839, Darwin married his cousin, 

 Emma \Vedg\vood, daughter of Josiah Wedgwood, 

 and began wedded life at 12 Upper Gower Street, 

 London. 



His principal work now was upon coral reefs, 

 upon which he devoted twenty months of hard, un- 

 remitting labour. He took an active interest in 

 the societies, read a paper before the Geological 

 Society on the " Erratic Boulders of South Amer- 

 ica," another on " Earthquakes," and still another on 

 the " Formation by the Agency of Earth-Worms 

 of Mould." The zoology of the Beagle was in 

 progress now, and received a portion of his time as 

 well. 



Ill-health continued to follow him, and he tells us 

 that scarcely twenty-four hours went over his head 

 without some suffering. Yet this did not deter 

 him from work ; on the contrary, it seemed to spur 

 him on to greater exertion. With Sir Charles Lyell 

 he became intimately associated, and no man outside 

 of his own family saw so much of him or knew him 

 so well. Darwin entertained the highest respect for 

 his friend's intelligence, considering him the leading 

 geological thinker of the age. Lyell was remarkable 

 for his sound judgment and caution, exhausting 

 every subject he entered into, and doubtless Darwin 

 imbibed some of this spirit. 



