MENTAL QUALITIES. 85 



the parent plants had been carefully protected from the ac- 

 cess of insects. This account was published before I had dis- 

 covered the meaning of heterostylism, and the whole state- 

 ment must have been fraudulent, or there was neglect in ex- 

 cluding insects so gross as to be scarcely credible. 



The third case was more curious : Mr. Huth published in 

 his book on ' Consanguineous Marriage ' some long extracts 

 from a Belgian author, who stated that he had interbred rab- 

 bits in the closest manner for very many generations, without 

 the least injurious effects. The account was published in a 

 most respectable Journal, that of the Royal Society of Bel- 

 gium ; but I could not avoid feeling doubts — I hardly know 

 why, except that there were no accidents of any kind, and my 

 experience in breeding animals made me think this very im- 

 probable. 



So with much hesitation I wrote to Professor Van Ben- 

 eden, asking him whether the author was a trustworthy man. 

 I soon heard in answer that the Society had been greatly 

 shocked by discovering that the whole account was a fraud.* 

 The writer had been publicly challenged in the Journal to 

 say where he had resided and kept his large stock of rabbits 

 while carrying on his experiments, which must have con- 

 sumed several years, and no answer could be extracted from 

 him. 



My habits are methodical, and this has been of not a little 

 use for my particular line of work. Lastly, I have had ample 

 leisure from not having to earn my own bread. Even ill- 

 health, though it has annihilated several years of my life, has 

 saved me from the distractions of society and amusement. 



Therefore my success as a man of science, whatever this 

 may have amounted to, has been determined, as far as I can 

 judge, by complex and diversified mental qualities and con- 

 ditions. Of these, the most important have been— the love 



* The falseness of the published statements on which Mr. Huth relied 

 has been pointed out by himself in a slip inserted in all the copies of his 

 book which then remained unsold. 



