CHAPTER III 



1872 



DYSPEPSIA, that most distressing of maladies, had 

 laid firm hold upon him. He was compelled to take 

 entire rest for a time. But his first holiday produced 

 no lasting effect, and in the summer he was again 

 very ill. Then the worry of a troublesome lawsuit 

 in connection with the building of his new house 

 intensified both bodily illness and mental depression. 

 He had great fears of being saddled with heavy costs 

 at the moment when he wasileast capable of meeting 

 any new expense hardly able even to afford another 

 much-needed spell of rest. But in his case, as in 

 others, at this critical moment the circle of fellow- 

 workers in science to whom he was bound by ties of 

 friendship, resolved that he should at least not lack 

 the means of recovery. In their name Charles 

 Darwin wrote him the following letter, of which it 

 is difficult to say whether it does more honour to 

 him who sent it or to him who received it : 

 66 



