Method of Work.--Darwin's life, as might be inferred from the enduring quality of his researches, shows an unswerving purpose. His theory was not the result of a sudden flash of insight, nor was it struck out in the heat of inspiration, but was the product of almost unexampled industry and conscientious endeavor in the face of unfavorable circumstances. Although strikingly original and independent as a thinker, he was slow to arrive at conclusions, examining with the most minute and scrupulous care the ground for every conclusion. "One quality of mind that seemed to be of especial advantage in leading him to make discoveries was the habit of never letting exceptions pass unnoticed." He enjoyed experimenting much more than work which only entailed reasoning. Of course, he was a great reader, but for books as books he had no respect, often cutting large ones in two in order to make them easier to hold while in use. Darwin's Early Life.--Charles Darwin was born in 1809 at Shrewsbury, England, of distinguished ancestry, his grandfather being the famous Dr. Erasmus Darwin, the founder, as we have seen, of a theory of evolution. In his youth he gave no indication of future greatness. He was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, but left there after two sessions, at the suggestion of his father, to study for the Church. He then went to the University of Cambridge, where he remained three years, listening to "incredibly dull lectures." After taking his baccalaureate degree, came the event which proved, as Darwin says, "the turning-point of my life." This was his appointment as naturalist on the surveying expedition about to be entered upon by the ship _Beagle_. In Cambridge he had manifested an interest in scientific study, and had been encouraged by Professor Henslow, to whom he was also indebted for the recommendation to the post on the _Beagle_. An amusing circumstance connected with his appointment is that he was nearly rejected by Captain Fitz-Roy, who doubted "whether a man with such a shaped nose could possess sufficient energy and determination for the voyage."