ERASMUS DARWIN THE YOUNGER. 



21 



*' My brother Erasmus possessed a remarkably clear mind 

 with extensive and diversified tastes and knowledge in litera- 

 ture, art, and even in science. For a short time he collected 

 and dried plants, and during a somewhat longer time experi- 

 mented in chemistry. He v/as extremely agreeable, and his 

 wit often reminded me of that in the letters and works of 

 Charles Lamb. He was very kind-hearted. . . . His health 

 from his boyhood had been weak, and as a consequence he 

 failed in energy. His spirits were not high, sometimes low, 

 more especially during early and middle manhood. He read 

 much, even whilst a boy, and at school encouraged me to 

 read, lending me books. Our minds and tastes were, hov/ever, 

 so different, that I do not think I owe much to him intellectu- 

 ally. I am inclined to agree with Francis Galton in believ- 

 ing that education and environment produce only a small 

 effect on the mind of any one, and that most of our qualities 

 are innate." 



Erasmus Darwin's name, though not known to the general 

 public, may be remembered from the sketch of his character 

 in Carlyle's ' Reminiscences,' which I here reproduce in 

 part : — 



'' Erasmus Darwin, a most diverse kind of mortal, came to 

 seek us out very soon (' had heard of Carlyle in Germany, 

 &c.') and continues ever since to be a quiet house-friend 

 honestly attached ; though, his visits latterly have been rarer 

 and rarer, health so poor, I so occupied, &c., &c. He had 

 something of original and sarcastically ingenious in him, one 

 of the sincerest, naturally truest, and most modest of men ; 

 elder brother of Charles Darwin (the famed Darwin on Species 

 of these days) to whom I rather prefer him for intellect, had 

 not his health quite doomed him to silence and patient idle- 

 ness. . . . My dear one had a great favour for this honest 

 Darwin always ; many a road, to shops and the like, he drove 

 her in his cab (Darwingium Cabbum comparable to Georgium 

 Sidus) in those early days when even the charge of omnibuses 



