24 THE MEANING OF EVOLUTION 
better adapted to the ministry than he was to the 
practice of medicine, and his university career went 
on in very desultory fashion. Most of his work was 
distinctly neglected, but two of the men he met there 
were to influence largely his future life. Henslow, 
the botanist, was unusually fond, for a professor in 
those days, of work in the field. Charles Darwin’s 
tastes coincided with those of Henslow, with whom 
he formed an intimate friendship. He was always 
welcomed as a companion on the field trips. Though 
he studied little of botany in the classroom or labora- 
tory, he was constantly with Henslow or with Sedg- 
wick in the field. Sedgwick was the professor of 
geology, and of him Darwin was particularly fond, 
and under him did much the largest amount of his 
study. When he came up for graduation he ranked 
tenth of those who “did not go in for honors,” a not 
very remarkable class standing. He was still required 
to put in two years of residence, and during this inter- 
val he spent most of his time with Sedgwick in the 
study of geology in the field. Returning to his home 
after a geological trip into Wales, Darwin found 
awaiting him a letter from Henslow, offering him an 
appointment that opened to his ardent mind the door 
to a career after his own heart. 
The British nation, being the greatest commercial 
nation of the globe, has the greatest need for accurate 
