WEDGWOODS AS SCIENCE AND HISTOKY 79 



From Darwin Hooker borrowed a medallion of his grand- 

 father Erasmus, and had a cast carefully made by Woolner the 

 sculptor for the Kew Museum. Through Darwin also he made 

 acquaintance with the Wedgwoods of Etruria and visited them 

 there, where he ' dabbled among the moulds ' to his heart's 

 content, and chose several fine plaques which the Wedgwoods 

 kindly reproduced for him. 



Jesting allusions constantly recur on either side, especially 

 to the value of the hobby as a standard of intellectual activity. 

 Hooker sums up the scientific worth of ' Juventus Mundi ' 

 by declaring that * Wedgwood is a science to it.' Mr. Gladstone, 

 it may be remembered, was also a collector of Wedgwood ware. 

 So too as a guide to history. Speaking of what a picturesque 

 Joan of Arc Miss Susan Homer would make, he remarks : 



N.B. My ideas of J.A. are wholly derived from Etty's 

 and Millais' pictures. I do not know even in whose reign 

 she lived, if in any, and as I have no Wedgwood medallion 

 of her, I have no means of knowing. 



But by this time (May 13, 1866) the hobby had perforce to 

 go slowly : 



My pursuit of that blue art is over, and the crockery shops 

 know me no more. I have never time to go to London now, 

 and hope never to have again. 



Still though the hope of filling up certain gaps at a sale 

 after the death of Mrs. Langton, Darwin's sister, failed because 

 all the medallions were bought in, he continued to buy when 

 occasion offered. 



