Home Life 



with notes and references on the flyleaves, and often by pencil 

 marks to indicate important passages, but he did not often 

 make separate notes. He had a wonderful memory, and 

 stored in his mind the facts and arguments he wished to use, 

 or the places where they were to be found. He borrowed 

 many books from libraries, and from these he sometimes 

 made a few notes. He was not a sound sleeper, and fre- 

 quently lay awake during the night, and then it was that 

 he thought out and planned his work. He often told us 

 with keen delight of some new idea or fresh argument which 

 had occurred to him during these waking hours. 



After spending months, or sometimes years, in reading 

 and digesting all the literary matter he could obtain on a 

 subject, and forming a plan for the treatment of it, he 

 would commence writing, and keep on steadily for five or 

 six hours a day if his health permitted. He also wrote to 

 people all over the world to obtain the latest facts bearing 

 on the subject. 



In 1903 he began writing " Man's Place in the Universe." 



To Me. W. G. Wallace 



OH Orchard. July 8, 1903. 



My dear Will, — I have just finished going over your notes 

 and corrections of the last four chapters. I can't think how 

 I was so stupid to make the mistake in figures which you 

 corrected. In almost all cases I have made some modifica- 

 tion in accordance with your suggestions, and the book will 

 be much improved thereby. I have put in a new paragraph 

 about the stars in other parts than the Milky Way and Solar 

 Cluster, but there is really nothing known about them. I 

 have also cut out the first reference to Jupiter altogether. 

 Of course a great deal is speculative, but any reply to it is 

 equally speculative. The question is, which speculation is 

 most in accordance with the known facts, and not with pre- 

 possessions only ? 



Considering that the book has all been read np and 



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