54 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. [Ch. II. 



that there were no accidents of any kind, and my experience in 

 breeding animals made me think this improbable. 



So with mnch hesitation I wrote to Professor Van Beneden, 

 asking him whether the author was a trustworthy man. I soon 

 heard in answer that the Society had been greatly shocked by 

 discovering that the whole account was a fraud.* The writer 

 had been publicly challenged in the journal to say where he 

 had resided and kept his large stock of rabbits while carrying 

 on his experiments, which must have consumed several years, 

 and no answer could be extracted from him. 



My habits are methodical, and this has been of not a little 

 use for my particular line of work. Lastly, I have had ample 

 leisure from not having to earn my own bread. Even ill- 

 health, though it has annihilated several years of my life, has 

 saved me from the distractions of society and amusement. 



Therefore, my success as a man of science, whatever this may 

 have amounted to, has been determined, as far as I can judge, 

 by complex and diversified mental qualities and conditions. Of 

 these, the most important have been — the love of science — 

 unbounded patience in long reflecting over any subject — indus- 

 try in observing and collecting facts — and a fair share of 

 invention as well as of common-sense. With such moderate 

 abilities as I possess, it is truly surprising that I should inivo 

 influenced to a considerable extent the belief of scientific men 

 on some important points. 



* The falseness of the published statements on which Mr. Huth. relied 

 were pointed out in a slip inserted in all the unsold copies of his book. 

 The Marriage of near Kin. — F. D. 



