1909.] BRYCE— REMINISCENCES OF CHARLES DARWIN. xiii 



One could converse with him for a few minutes only because his 

 health was so feeble that it was necessary to save all the time he 

 could spare for the prosecution of his work, as he was only able to 

 work for two or three hours a day, perhaps even less, and talking 

 fatigued him. The conversation I had with him lasted less than 

 twenty-five minutes, and at the end of that time one of his sons 

 came in and took him away to lie down and rest. 



The portraits of him which you have seen are extremely good 

 and give a correct impression of his features and air. I can hardly 

 imagine a more faithful representation, both of the features and of 

 the expression of his face than you have in the picture placed on 

 the easel in this room.^ He was one of those men whose character 

 was palpably written on his face. He had a projecting brow, with 

 a forehead very full over the eyes, and a fine dome-shaped head. 

 His eyes were deep set, because the brow projected so far, and were 

 of a clear and steady blue, and he had a quiet, contemplative look, 

 with an occasional slight smile passing over his countenance 

 which made one feel perfectly at ease in his company. There was 

 nothing about him to make a stranger feel constrained or timorous in 

 his company, however deep one's reverence, because his manner was 

 simple, natural, with nothing to indicate any consciousness of dis- 

 tinction. As I knew two of his most illustrious contemporaries in 

 the field of science, you may like to hear how their faces and that 

 of Darwin struck an observer. One was Lord Kelvin, whom many 

 of you here knew, and whom we lost only two years ago. He also 

 had a striking face, but the thing that most impressed one was the 

 activity, alertness and vivacity, the constant play of mind, the quick- 

 ness and mobility of his expression. The other of these two great 

 men was Helmholtz. He had a look of steadiness, concentration 

 and solidity. His face was a kindly one, friendly and genial, but 

 much quieter than Kelvin's. Helmholtz seemed to be continually 

 bent upon thinking out some thought or calculation calmly and per- 

 sistently. Mr. Darwin had the same tranquility, the same patience. 

 His look was both penetrative and meditative. It was not so quick 

 and capable of swift change as Kelvin's was, but it had nevertheless 

 the keenness and sensitiveness of the man whom nothing escaped, 



^ Collier's portrait, etched by Flamang. 



