" The Cirripediay 139 



diate success ; and Darwin tells us that " the success 

 of this, my first literary child, always tickles my 

 vanity more than that of any of my other books." 



The book had a large sale ; the direct and simple 

 method of treatment, so unlike the abstruse and tech- 

 nical scientific works of the day, finding ready 

 acceptance among the great masses of the people. 

 The first edition was soon exhausted ; foreign pub- 

 lishers translated it into French, German, and other 

 languages, and even to-day it commands a large and 

 constant sale. A second edition was brought out, 

 to be followed by others, and it is estimated that 

 fifteen or twenty thousand copies of the book have 

 been sold. This work may be said to have occupied 

 five years in its production. 



In 1846 Darwin published his "Geological Ob- 

 servations on South America " ; this and two others, 

 including the " Coral Reefs," representing four and 

 a half years of continued and steady labour. Darwin 

 [modestly disclaims any merit for them, but they 

 'ere essentially epoch-making, and in many ways 

 [revolutionised existing thought and theory. While 

 [in Chili he discovered a new and singular barnacle 

 burrowing in a shell. To understand its affinities 

 necessitated a study of the entire Cirripedes, which 

 resulted in the grand work " Cirripedia," which was 

 published in 1846. The study and investigations, 

 which resulted in this monograph, required eight 

 [years of constant attention, about two of which he 

 considered lost on account of illness, though it is 

 known that he laboured even when ill. The book 

 was, when published, a complete history of these 



