368 CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN. 



he wrote afterwards, and saved him from endless 

 errors of detail." Darwin's patient labor is shown 

 by his working " for the last half-month, daily, in 

 dissecting a little animal about the size of a pin's 

 head, from the Chonos archipelago, and I could 

 spend another month, and daily see more beautiful 

 structure." 



During these years from 1846 to 1854, death had 

 twice disturbed the quiet life at Down. In 1849, 

 Dr. Darwin died, and his son Charles was so ill 

 that he could not attend the funeral. In 1851, 

 Annie Darwin died, at the age of ten, after a brief 

 illness. " She was," said Darwin, " my favorite 

 child; her cordiality, openness, buoyant joyous- 

 ness, and strong affections made her most lovable. 

 . . . When quite a baby, this [strong affection] 

 showed itself in never being easy without touching 

 her mother when in bed with her ; and quite lately 

 she would, when poorly, fondle for any length of 

 time one of her mother's arms. . . . She would at 

 almost any time spend half an hour in arranging 

 my hair, ' making it,' as she called it, < beautiful,' 

 or in smoothing, the poor, dear darling, my collar 

 or cuffs in short, in fondling me. . . . Her 

 whole mind was pure and transparent. One felt 

 one knew her thoroughly and could trust her. I 

 always thought that, come what might, we should 

 have had, in our old age, at least one loving soul 

 which nothing could have changed. 



" All her movements were vigorous, active, and 

 usually graceful. When going round the Sand- 



