^aSmX™*}        Centenary  of  Charles  Darwin.  199 
doing  so  deserves  all  the  credit.  His  generous  treatment  of  the 
writings  and  observations  of  others,  whether  published  or  simply  in 
letters,  was  proverbial.  It  is  true,  he  made  some  mistakes,  which 
he  apparently  knew  better  than  others,  and  in  a  letter  to  Huxley 
on  one  occasion,  said,  "  I  have  sometimes  amused  myself  with 
thinking  how  I  could  best  pitch  into  myself,  and  I  believe  I  could 
give  two  or  three  good  digs.''  Darwin  was  not  a  controversialist, 
being  advised  as  he  said  by  Lyell,  "  never  to  get  entangled  in  a 
controversy,  as  it  rarely  did  any  good  and  caused  a  miserable  loss 
of  time  and  temper." 
If  one  wishes  to  spend  a  few  hours  profitably,  one  cannot  do 
better  than  to  read  "  The  Life  and  Letters  of  Charles  Darwin," 
including  an  autobiographical  chapter,  by  his  son  Francis  Darwin. 
And  if  one  desires  to  get  some  idea  of  the  physiognomy  of  Dar- 
win, let  him  go  to  the  American  Museum  of  Xatural  History  in  Xew 
York,  where  there  was  unveiled,  last  Friday  (February  12th),  a 
bronze  bust  of  him,  which  is  clever  in  conception  and  in  execution. 
I  shall  never  forget,  as  I  saw  the  canvas  removed,  the  impression 
I  first  received,  as  it  seemed  that  I  could  think  of  nothing  but  Mount 
Shasta.  The  eyes,  overarched  with  the  prominent  brows,  seem  as 
if  they  could  look  into  the  noon-day  sun  and  penetrate  its  secrets  ; 
the  nose  and  lips  both  indicate  strong  character,  yet  tempered  with 
kindliness,  and  the  massive  wrinkled  brow  also  adds  to  the  distinc- 
tion of  this  master  mind  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
It  is  a  matter  of  pride  that  in  the  city  of  Philadelphia  the  epoch- 
making  work  of  Charles  Darwin  first  received  official  recognition, 
and  it  is  also  a  matter  of  congratulation  that  in  America  he  immedi- 
ately found  some  of  his  most  ardent  friends  and  supporters. 
