ERASMUS DARWIN. 7 



were to some extent characteristic of the man ; and this 

 leads me to think that Erasmus had a certain acerbity or 

 severity of temper which did not exist in his grandson. 



The sons of Erasmus Darwin inherited in some degree 

 his intellectual tastes, for Charles Darwin writes of them as 

 follows* : 



"His eldest son, Charles (born September 3, 1758), was a 

 young man of extraordinary promise, but died (May 15, 1778) 

 before he was twenty-one years old, from the effects of a 

 wound received whilst dissecting the brain of a child. He in- 

 herited from his father a strong taste for various branches of 

 science, for writing verses, and for mechanics . . . He also 

 inherited stammering. With the hope of curing him, his 

 father sent him to France, when about eight years old (1766- 

 67), with a private tutor, thinking that if he was not allowed 

 to speak English for a time, the habit of stammering might 

 be lost ; and it is a curious fact, that in after years, when 

 speaking French, he never stammered. At a very early 

 age he collected specimens of all kinds. When sixteen 

 years old he was sent for a year to [Christ Church] Oxford, 

 but he did not like the place, and thought (in the words of 

 his father) that the ' vigour of his mind languished in the 

 pursuit of classical elegance like Hercules at the distaff, and 

 sighed to be removed to the robuster exercise of the medical 

 school of Edinburgh.' He stayed three years at Edinburgh, 

 working hard at his medical studies, and attending 'with 

 diligence all the sick poor of the parish of Waterleith, and 

 supplying them with the necessary medicines.' The ^Escu- 

 lapian Society awarded him its first gold medal for an experi- 

 mental inquiry on pus and mucus. Notices of him appeared 

 in various journals ; and all the writers agree about his 

 uncommon energy and abilities. He seems like his father 

 to have excited the warm affection of his friends. Professor 

 Andrew Duncan .... spoke .... about him with the 

 * ' Life of Erasmus Darwin,' p. 80. 



