Charles Robert Darwin. 29 



istic doctrine, — the transmutation of species by means of 

 natural selection and the preservation of the fittest. The 

 phenomena of plant and animal life in the Galapagos 

 Islands first impressed him with the need of such a doctrine 

 to account for the geographical distribution of organic 

 forms. From his return in 1836 to the publication of the 

 " Origin of Species " in 1859, all of his studies and his 

 various publications were leading up to this, the climax of 

 them all. In 1839 he married his cousin, Emma Wedg- 

 wood, and in 1842 took up his residence at Down, in Kent, 

 — where he lived until his death, a period of forty years. 

 A generous fortune permitted him to abstain from all bread- 

 winning employments and to devote himself entirely to his 

 favorite studies. His was a quiet, beautiful, and happy 

 home. His boys, as they grew up, could not resist the fine 

 contagion of the observant habits of his life. In due time 

 there was a family of naturalists, aiding, correcting, and 

 encouraging each other. The father's later writings blos- 

 som thick with references to observations and experiments 

 made by his sons. As early as 1837 we find him reading 

 a paper to the Geological Society on the " Formation of Veg- 

 etable Mould." His latest publication, which appeared not 

 long before his death, was an amplification of this early pa- 

 per. It was not that he resumed a subject he had laid 

 aside ; he had been waiting for his experiments to ripen. 

 For forty years and more the earthworms had been carry- 

 ing on his work, answering his pressing questions. The 

 last result was Beauty for Ashes, a new and wondrous 

 meaning in the ancient words, " I will say to the worm, 

 Thou art my brother and my sister" — a brother and a sis- 

 ter to whom we have every reason to be grateful, and of 

 whom we may well be proud. 



In 1842 he published "Structure and Distribution of 

 Coral Keefs"; in 1844, "Volcanic Islands"; in 1 840, "Ge- 

 ological Observations in South America." All of these pub- 

 lications were the outcome of his voyage in the "Beagle," 

 and, together with the geological chapters in the " Origin 

 of Species," they are convincing of tlie trutli of Dr. Gei- 

 kie's saying, that "No man of his time has exercised a pro- 

 founder influence upon the Science of (Jeology than Charles 

 Darwin." If his geological writings had been exhaustive 

 of his intellectual activity, his fame would be as enviable 

 as that of Agassiz or Lyell or any other contemporary geol- 



