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"Great Writers."

Edited by

Professor Eric S. Robertson, M.A.,

LIFE OF DARWIN.


LIFE OF CHARLES DARWIN

by

G. T. BETTANY







London
Walter Scott
24 Warwick Lane, Paternoster Row
1887




CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
                                                                    PAGE
Darwin's ancestry; his grandfather, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, a
successful physician, and author of "The Botanic Garden," "The
Temple of Nature," &c.; his father, Robert Waring Darwin, also
a successful physician; his maternal grandfather, Josiah
Wedgwood, the celebrated potter; his mother's education and
training; Charles Robert Darwin, born at Shrewsbury, Feb. 12,
1809; Mrs. Darwin dies in July, 1817; her eldest son, Erasmus,
friend of the Carlyles; Charles Darwin's education by Mr. Case,
and at Shrewsbury Grammar School; his character as a boy; is
sent to Edinburgh University in 1825                                 11

CHAPTER II.

Darwin a member of the Plinian Society, of Edinburgh; makes
natural history excursions; his first scientific paper read
March 27, 1827; friendship with Dr. Grant; Jameson's lectures
on zoology; Darwin enters Christ's College, Cambridge, in 1828;
his friendship with Prof. Henslow; his account of Henslow;
Darwin at this time specially an entomologist; his excursions
with Henslow; takes B.A. degree in 1831, M.A. in 1837; voyage
of _Beagle_ proposed, and Darwin appointed as naturalist;
the _Beagle_ sails on Dec. 27, 1831; Darwin's letters to
Henslow published 1835; 1832, Darwin at Teneriffe, Cape
de Verde Islands, St. Paul's Rocks, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro
(April); excursions into interior and amusing adventures;
his experiences and horror of slavery; at Monte Video,
July; Maldonado, Rio <DW64>; visit to Tierra del Fuego, Dec.
1832--Jan. 1833; _rencontre_ with General Rosas; many extinct
animals discovered; Buenos Ayres, Sept. 1833; excursion to
Santa Fe; Port Desire, Dec. 1833; Port St. Julian, Jan. 1834;
Valparaiso, July 1834; expeditions to the Andes, Santiago, &c.;
Chiloe, Nov. 1834; the Chonos Archipelago, Dec. 1834; Valdivia,
Feb. 1835; an earthquake experience; expedition across the
Cordillera in March, 1835; voyage across the Pacific commenced
in September; the Galapagos Archipelago and its interesting
animals; Tahiti, Nov. 1835; Darwin's opinion of English
products, and of the influence of Christian missionaries; New
Zealand, Dec. 1835; Port Jackson, Jan. 1836; Tasmania, Feb.;
the Keeling Islands, April; the homeward journey; Falmouth
reached, Oct. 2, 1836; Capt. Fitzroy's opinion of Darwin;
Darwin's first impression of savages                                 22

CHAPTER III.

Darwin elected F.G.S.; Lyell's high opinion of him; secretary
of the Geological Society, Feb. 1838-41; reads numerous papers
before the Society; elected F.R.S., Jan. 24, 1839; marries his
cousin, Miss Wedgwood, early in 1839; "Journal of Researches,"
published 1839, highly praised in _Quarterly Review_;
publication of zoology of the _Beagle_ (1839-43); extraordinary
animals described therein; other results of the voyage;
plants described by Hooker and Berkeley; work on "Coral
Reefs" published 1842; Darwin's new theory at once accepted;
subsequent views of Semper, Dana, and Murray; second and third
parts of Geology of _Beagle_ ("Volcanic Islands" and "