PER CONTRA. 285 



accuracy did not come into conflict with his interests 

 as a leader in the scientific world ; when these were at 

 stake he was not to be trusted for a moment. Unfor- 

 tunately they were directly or indirectly at stake more 

 often than one could wish. His book on the action 

 of worms, however, was shown by Professor Paley and 

 other writers * to contain many serious errors and 

 omissions, though it involved no personal question ; 

 but I imagine him to have been more or less h^iti- 

 when he wrote this book. On the whole I should 

 doubt his having been a better observer of nature than 

 nine country gentlemen out of ten who have a taste 

 for natural history. 



Presumptuous as I am aware it must appear to say 

 so, I am unable to see more than average intellectual 

 power even in Mr. Darwin's later books. His great 

 contribution to science is supposed to have been 

 the theory of natural selection, but enough has been 

 said to show that this, if understood as he ought to 

 have meant it to be understood, cannot be rated highly 

 as an intellectual achievement. His other most impor- 

 tant contribution was his provisional theory of pan- 

 genesis, which is admitted on all hands to have been a 

 failure. Though, however, it is not likely that posterity 

 will consider him as a man of transcendent intellec- 

 tual power, he must be admitted to have been richly 

 endowed with a much more valuable quality than 

 either originality or literary power — I mean with savoir 



* See Professor Paley, "Fraser," Jan. 1882, "Science Gossip," Nos. 

 162, 163, June and July 1878, and "Nature," Jan. 3, Jan. 10, Feb. 28, 

 aud March 27, 1884. 



