CHAPTER II. 



COLLEGE DAYS. 



College Life Thoughts of Entering the Church A Poor Mathema- 

 ticianBeetle Collecting First Appearance in Print Associa- 

 tions with Eminent Men Scientific Reading Favourite Authors 

 Interest in Geology. 



HE college life of Darwin 

 constitutes one of the 

 epochs of his career, as 

 during these days, so 

 happy in their memory, 

 .occurred many of the in- 

 cidents that shaped his 

 future. He entered col- 

 lege in 1828, this move- 

 ment being the result of 

 a decision on the part of 

 his family, that as he had 

 failed as a doctor, he might possibly be induced to 

 enter the Church. This proposition was made to 

 the young man, who asked time in which to con- 

 sider, during which deliberation he read attentively 

 several religious works, including " Pearson on the 

 Creed," and questioned himself thoroughly as to his 



