148 LONDON AND CAMBRIDGE. [Ch. VII. 



give a true index of the most important work that was in 

 progress — the laying of the foundation-stones of what was to 

 be the achievement of his life. This is shown in the following 

 passages from a letter to Lyell (September), and from a letter 

 to Fox, written in June : — 



" I wish with all my heart that my Geological book was 

 out. I have every motive to work hard, and will, following 

 your steps, work just that degree of hardness to keep well. I 

 should like my volume to be out before your new edition of 

 the Principles appears. Besides the Coral theory, the volcanic 

 chapters will, I think, contain some new facts. I have lately 

 been sadly tempted to be idle — that is, as far as pure geology 

 is concerned — by the delightful number of new views which 

 have been coming in thickly and steadily — on the classifi- 

 cation and affinities and instincts of animals — bearing on the 

 question of species. Note-book after note-book has been 

 filled with facts which begin to group themselves clearly 

 under sub-laws." 



" I am delighted to hear you are such a good man as not to 

 have forgotten my questions about the crossing of animals.. 

 It is my prime hobby, and I really think some day I shall be 

 able to do something in that most intricate subject, species 

 and varieties." 



In the winter of 1839 (Jan. 29) my father was married to 

 his cousin, Emma Wedgwood.* The house in which they 

 lived for the first few years of their married life, No. 12 Upper 

 Gower Street, was a small common-place London house, with 

 a drawing-room in front, and a small room behind, in which 

 they lived for the sake of quietness. In later years my father 

 used to laugh over the surpassing ugliness of the furniture, 

 carpets, &c, of the Gower Street house. The only redeeming 

 feature was a better garden than most London houses have, a 

 strip as wide as the house, and thirty yards long. Even this 

 small space of dingy grass made their London house more 

 tolerable to its two country-bred inhabitants. 



Of his life in London he writes to Fox (October 1839) : 

 " We are living a life of extreme quietness ; Delamere itself, 

 which you describe as so secluded a spot, is, I will answer for 

 it, quite dissipated compared with Gower Street. We have 

 given up all parties, for they agree with neither of us ; and if 

 one is quiet in London, there is nothing like its quietness — 

 there is a grandeur about its smoky fogs, and the dull distant 

 sounds of cabs and coaches ; in fact you may perceive I am 



* Daughter of Josiah Wedgwood of Maer, and grand-daughter of the 

 founder of the Etruria Pottery Works. 



