4 THE DAEWINS. [Ch. I. 



life, and the touching patience and sweetness of his nature. 

 He often spoke of him as " Poor old Ras," or * Poor dear old 

 Philos." I imagine Philos (Philosopher) was a relic of the 

 days when they worked at chemistry in the tool-house at 

 Shrewsbury — a time of which he always preserved a pleasant 

 memory. Erasmus was rather more than four years older than 

 Charles Darwin, so that they were not long together at Cam- 

 bridge, but previously at Edinburgh they shared the same 

 lodgings, and after the Voyage they lived for a time together 

 in Erasmus' house in Great Marlborough Street. In later 

 years Erasmus Darwin came to Down occasionally, or joined 

 his brother's family in a summer holiday. But gradually it 

 came about that he could not, through ill health, make up his 

 mind to leave London, and thus they only saw each other when 

 Charles Darwin went for a week at a time to his brother's house 

 in Queen Anne Street. 



This brief sketch of the family to which Charles Darwin 

 belonged may perhaps suffice to introduce the reader to the 

 autobiographical chapter which follows. 



