DARWIN MEMORIAL CELEBRATION 
29 
by other authors in various contributions. Darwin’s valuable herbarium 
is preserved in the museum of Cambridge University. That he collected 
assiduously at times during portions of this expedition, is evidenced by his 
having brought home specimens of 193 species of the 225 species which, 
after his specimens had been studied, were known to inhabit the Galapagos 
Islands and by the fact that about 100 species new to science were represented 
in his Galapagos collection. He noticed the extraordinary distribution of 
species or races on the several islands of this group, many of them inhabiting 
only a single island, and he laid the foundation for all subsequent study 
of insular floras. The narrative of observations and experiences during 
this memorable voyage is replete with interesting facts and suggestions 
concerning plants, and his conclusion that “ Nothing can be more improving 
to a young naturalist than a journey in distant countries,” is one that should 
be reiterated by all teachers of natural science, and such experience should 
be sought by all students who propose engaging in investigation. Darwin 
is commemorated in botanical taxonomy by many species named in his 
honor. The beautiful barberry, Berberis Darwinii of Hooker, native of 
Chiloe, is occasionally seen in cultivation. Darwinia, an Australian genus 
of the myrtle family, named by Rudge in 1813, commemorates his grand¬ 
father, Erasmus Darwin. 
The beginnings of Darwin’s theory of descent of animals and plants 
from preexistent species, with modifications, were made during the voyage 
of the Beagle, and from the year after his return to England, when, he tells 
us he opened the first note-book on the subject. For twenty-two years he 
was interrogating gardeners and breeders, botanists and zoologists, and 
diligently observing plants and animals. He first thought of publishing 
on the theory of descent in 1839, but delayed for twenty years. During the 
studies which led up to the publication, in 1859, of “The Origin of Species 
by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the 
Struggle for Life,” Darwin closely observed a great number of wild and 
cultivated plants, with reference to variation in nature and under domestica¬ 
tion, the struggle for existence due to competition for food and sunlight, 
the facts of geographic distribution, the succession of plant life on the earth 
as indicated by the fossils of successive geologic periods, and a great range 
of other facts and phenomena. The recorded observations of other botanists 
were also freely utilized and discussed. Nearly all the chapters of this 
epoch-making work contain conclusions drawn from his own botanical 
observations. He was especially impressed by the divergent views of 
different botanists relative to the taxonomic treatment of highly polymorphic 
genera such as Hieracium (hawk-weed), Rubus (blackberry), Quercus and 
Rosa, and he employed this consideration to great advantage in his argu- 
