Charles Darwin; his life and work / by Charles Frederick Holder.

  • Charles Frederick Holder
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Charles Darwin; his life and work / by Charles Frederick Holder. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    boyish mind were Horace, certain odes of which appear to have been the one bright feature in his school hfe; many hours were spent poring over the historical plays of Shakespeare, while the poetry of Byron and Scott, and especially Thomson's Sea- sons, seem to have given him pleasure and satisfac- tion. A book that had a strong influence upon him was the Wonders of the World, over whose varied contents he often pored, discussing the strange facts set forth with his companions. Small things often have much to do in shaping our lives, and in this volume we undoubtedly find the germ that excited in his mind the love for travel and exploration which ultimately resulted in the famous voyage which he made around the world in the Beagle. Darwin testifies to the correctness of this, and in later years, in referring to the book, wrote to a German publisher: I believe that this book first gave me a wish to travel in remote countries, which was ultimately fulfilled by the voyage of the Beagled While we may trace the love of travel to hours spent over this volume, his passion for natural history was accelerated by White's Selborne. From its pages he obtained his fondness for birds, learning to note their ways and habits, and be- coming an ardent ornithologist. Darwin had a decided natural inclination to litera- ture of a scientific character. He read during these days several books on chemistry, and worked with his elder brother in his laboratory, making gases and various other chemical compounds ; and that it was an unusual taste among the boys of the time is
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