CHAPTER XVII. 



THE DARWIN FAMILY. 



The First Known Darwin The Head of the Family Natural-His- 

 tory Tastes Poets, Doctors, and Military Men Erasmus Dar- 

 win Carlyle's Description of Erasmus Evidences of Genius. 



E have seen that Darwin 

 possessed all the elements 

 of greatness ; that he was 

 not merely a hero of sci- 

 ence in name, but by vir- 

 tue of his attainments rose 

 to the highest eminence 

 among scientific men, and 

 in the broad field of natu- 

 ral history was the recog- 

 nised head and leader. 

 The ancestry of such a man has a peculiar interest, 

 especially after a review of the salient features of his 

 life. 



The name has been traced back to the year 1 500, 

 when in Lincolnshire and some other counties it was 

 spelled Derwent, Darwen, and Darwynne. 

 156 



