46 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP. 



see also Meteyard's " Life of Wedge wood ") ; (2) 

 his brother, Robert Waring Darwin, wrote " Prin- 

 cipia Botanica," which reached its third edition in 

 1810. It is said (Meteyard's "Life of Wedge- 

 wood ") that the Darwins " sprang from a lettered 

 and intellectual race, as his (Dr. Darwin's) father 

 was one among the earliest members of the 

 Spalding Club." 



Second generation. 7 males, 3 females, of 

 whom 3 males deserve notice : ^1) Charles Dar- 

 win, who died at the age of only 21, poisoned by 

 a dissection wound, but who had already achieved 

 such distinction that his name has been fre- 

 quently mentioned in biographical dictionaries. 

 His thesis, on obtaining the gold medal of the 

 Edinburgh University, was on the distinction be- 

 tween * ' pus " and " mucus." It was a real step for- 

 ward in those early days of exact medical science, 

 and was thought highly of at the time ; (2) 

 Kobert Waring Darwin, M.D., F.R.S., a physician, 

 and shrewd observer, of great provincial celebrity, 

 on many grounds, who lived at Shrewsbury. He 

 married a daughter of Wedge wood's, and was 

 father of Charles Darwin (see below); (3) Sir 



