LITERARY WORK, ETC. 201 



got down, took off his overcoat, trampled on it, and beat out 

 the rest. We went on. A third time it burst out in smoke 

 and flame. Again I shouted, and passers-by called out and 

 stopped to look. And then at last, with their help, he finally 

 extinguished the conflagration. A cabman on fire ! No more 

 curious incident occurred during my six thousand miles of 

 travel in America. It originated, no doubt, from his having 

 put a lighted pipe in his pocket, or perhaps from a loose 

 phosphorus match. But he did not seem to mind it much, 

 even when in a blaze. 



The rest of the year 1887 was occupied at home in over- 

 taking my correspondence, looking after my garden, and 

 making up for lost time in scientific and literary reading, and 

 in considering what work I should next occupy myself with. 

 Many of my correspondents, as well as persons I met in 

 America, told me that they could not understand Darwin's 

 " Origin of Species," but they did understand my lecture on 

 4< Darwinism ; " and it therefore occurred to me that a popular 

 exposition of the subject might be useful, not only as enabling 

 the general reader to understand Darwin, but also to serve 

 as an answer to the many articles and books professing to 

 disprove the theory of natural selection. During the whole 

 of the year 1888 I was engaged in writing this book, which, 

 though largely following the lines of Darwin's work, con- 

 tained a great many new features, and dwelt especially with 

 those parts of the subject which had been most generally mis- 

 understood. 



The spring of 1889 was occupied in passing it through the 

 press, and it was published in May, while a few corrections 

 were made for a second edition in the following October. 

 During this time, however, I gave several of my American 

 lectures in various parts of the country — at Newcastle and 

 Darlington in the spring of 1888; in the autumn at Altrincham 

 and Darwen; and in 1889 at Newcastle, York, Darlington, 

 and Liverpool. 



In the autumn of this year the University of Oxford did 

 me the honour of giving me the honorary degree of D.C.L., 



