IN FULL CAREER. 173 



country, which he did. He was never tired 

 of Goethe's " Faust," which was always new 

 to him. He loved old ballads, and among the 

 poets, Dryden's works were his favourite 

 reading. In one thing he was imperious: 

 the house must be kept quiet absolutely 

 quiet while he was at work. Any house- 

 hold operations that made the least noise had 

 to be postponed till he went out for his walk. 

 I have before me a great number of note- 

 books filled with observations, remarks, ideas, 

 hints, and suggestions of all kinds by him. 

 He carried them about during his walks, and 

 while he was always watching the infinite 

 wealth and variety of Nature, the multitu- 

 dinous forms of life, he was always noting 

 down what he saw. To read these note-books 

 is like reading an unclassified index to the 

 works of Nature. And since they throw so 

 much light upon his methods, and prove if 

 that wanted any proof how careful he was to 

 set down nothing that had not been noted and 

 proved by himself, I have copied some few 

 pages, which are here reproduced. Observe 

 that these extracts are taken almost at random 



