30 THE METHOD OF DARWIN. 



was wonderful." 1 Both his accuracy of obser- 

 vation and his grasp of all the facts connected 

 with an experiment were doubtless made hab- 

 itual on the voyage by the never absent con- 

 sciousness that there was only one opportunity 

 to do whatever he did. 



During that memorable voyage Darwin's 

 education went on, unhampered by laboratory 

 hand-books with directions for finding the 

 facts, or by professors to do the reasoning for 

 him either before or after the facts were found. 

 In all his work there was the complex and 

 incessant interplay of observation, induction, 

 deduction, and verification which constitutes 

 the scientific method. The necessity of work- 

 ing rapidly, accurately, and thoroughly forced 

 upon him by the consciousness that his time 

 was limited, and that the work could not be 

 done over again, coupled with his native energy 

 and independence, accounts for the character 

 and quantity of his scientific work. 



The mental traits alluded to were coupled 

 with remarkable conscientiousness. In the 

 long run it pays the scientist to be honest, not 

 only by not making false statements, but by 

 giving full expression to facts that are opposed 

 to his views. Moral slovenliness is visited 



1 Life and Letters, Vol. I. pp. 121, 122. 



