RISE OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT 425 
work which only entailed reasoning. Of course, he was a 
great reader, but for books as books he had no respect, often 
cutting large ones in two in order to make them easier to 
hold while in use. 
Darwin’s Early Life.—Charles Darwin was born in 1809 
at Shrewsbury, England, of distinguished ancestry, his grand- 
father being the famous Dr. Erasmus Darwin, the founder, 
as we have seen, of a theory of evolution. In his youth he 
gave no indication of future greatness. He was sent to 
Edinburgh to study medicine, but left there after two sessions, 
at the suggestion of his father, to study for the Church. He 
then went to the University of Cambridge, where he remained 
three years, listening to “incredibly dull lectures.” After 
taking his baccalaureate degree, came the event which 
proved, as Darwin says, “the turning-point of my life.” 
This was his appointment as naturalist on the surveying 
expedition about to be entered upon by the ship Beagle. In 
Cambridge he had manifested an interest in scientific study, 
and had been encouraged by Professor Henslow, to whom 
he was also indebted for the recommendation to the post on 
the Beagle. An amusing circumstance connected with his 
appointment is that he was nearly rejected by Captain Fitz- 
Roy, who doubted “ whether a man with such a shaped nose 
could possess sufficient energy and determination for the 
voyage.” 
Voyage of the Beagle.—The voyage of the Beagle ex- 
tended over five years (1831-1836), mainly along the west 
coast of South America. It was on this voyage that Darwin 
acquired the habit of constant industry. He had also oppor- 
tunity to take long trips on shore, engaged in observation 
and in making extensive collections. He observed nature in 
the field under exceptional circumstances. As he traveled 
he noted fossil forms in rocks as well as the living forms in 
field and forest. He observed the correspondence in type 
