facts closely, and at first hand, without the interposition of the formal
laws, vague ideal conceptions, or "glittering generalities" which some
philosophical naturalists make large use of.
A likeness may also be discerned in the way in which the work or
contributions of predecessors and contemporaries are referred to. The brief
historical summaries prefixed to many of Mr. Brown's papers are models of
judicial conscientiousness. And Mr. Darwin's evident delight at discovering
that some one else has "said his good things before him," or has been on
the verge of uttering them, seemingly equals that of making the discovery
himself. It reminds one of Goethe's insisting that his views in morphology
must have been held before him and must be somewhere on record, so obvious
did they appear to him.
Considering the quiet and retired lives led by both these men, and the
prominent place they are likely to occupy in the history of science, the
contrast between them as to contemporary and popular fame is very
remarkable. While Mr. Brown was looked up to with the greatest reverence by
all the learned botanists, he was scarcely heard of by any one else; and
out of botany he was unknown to science except as the discoverer of the
Brownian motion of minute particles, which discovery was promulgated in a
privately-printed pamphlet that few have ever seen. Although Mr. Darwin had
been for twenty years well and widely known for his "Naturalist's Journal,"
his works on "Coral Islands," on "Volcanic Islands, and especially for his
researches on the Barnacles, it was not till about fifteen years ago that
his name became popularly famous. Ever since no scientific name has been so
widely spoken. Many others have had hypotheses or systems named after them,
but no one else that we know of a department of bibliography. The nature of
his latest researches accounts for most of the difference, but not for all,
The Origin of Species is a fascinating topic, having interests and
connections with every branch of science, natural and moral. The
investigation of recondite affinities is very dry and special; its
questions, processes, and results alike--although in part generally
presentable in the shape of morphology--are mainly, like the higher
mathematics, unintelligible except to those who make them a subject of
serious study. They are especially so when presented in Mr. Brown's manner.
Perhaps no naturalist ever recorded the results of his investigations in
fewer words and with greater precision than Robert Brown: certainly no one
ever took more pains to state nothing beyond the precise point in question.
Indeed, we have sometimes fancied that he preferred to enwrap rather than to
explain his meaning; to put it into such a form that, unless you follow
Solomon's injunction and dig for the wisdom as for hid treasure, you may
hardly apprehend it until you have found it all out for yourself, when you
will have the satisfaction of perceiving that Mr. Brown not only knew all
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