158 DOWN. [Ch. VHI 



allied structures. After having been so long employed in 

 writing my old geological observations, it is delightful to use 

 one's eyes and fingers again." It was, in fact, a return to the 

 work which occupied so much of his time when at sea during 

 his voyage. Most of his work was done with the simple 

 dissecting microscope — and it was the need which he found for 

 higher powers that induced him, in 1846, to buy a compound 

 microscope. He wrote to Hooker : — " When I was drawing 

 with L., I was so delighted with the appearance of the objects, 

 especially with their perspective, as seen through the weak 

 powers of a good compound microscope, that I am going to 

 order one ; indeed, I often have structures in which the ^ is 

 not power enough." 



During part of the time covered by the present chapter, my 

 father suffered perhaps more from ill-health than at any other 

 period of his life. He felt severely the depressing influence of 

 these long years of illness ; thus as early as 1840 he wrote to 

 Fox : "lam grown a dull, old, spiritless dog to what I used 

 to be. One gets stupider as one grows older I think." It is 

 not wonderful that he should so have written, it is rather to be 

 wondered at that his spirit withstood so great and constant a 

 strain. He wrote to Sir Joseph Hooker in 1845 : " You are 

 very kind in your inquiries about my health ; I have nothing 

 to say about it, being always much the same, some days better 

 and some worse. I believe I have not had one whole day, or 

 rather night, without my stomach having been greatly dis- 

 ordered, during the last three years, and most days great 

 prostration of strength : thank you for your kindness ; many 

 of my friends, I believe, think mo a hypochondriac." 



During the whole of the period now under consideration, he 

 was in constant correspondence with Sir Joseph Hooker. The 

 following characteristic letter on Sigillaria (a gigantic fossil 

 plant found in the Coal Measures) was afterwards characterised 

 by himself as not being " reasoning, or even speculation, but 

 simply as mental rioting." 



[Down, 1847 ?] 



"... I am delighted to hear that Brongniart thought 

 Sigillaria aquatic, and that Binney considers coal a sort of 

 submarine peat. I would bet 5 to 1 that in twenty years this 

 will be generally admitted ; * and I do not care for whatever 

 the botanical difficulties or impossibilities may be. If I 

 could but persuade myself that Sigillaria and Co. had a good 

 range of depth, i.e. could live from 5 to 10 fathoms under 



* An unfulfilled prophecy. 



