46 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [ci r.
see also Meteyard's "Life of Wedgewood") ; (2) his brother, Robert Waring Darwin, wrote " Principia Botanica," which reached its third edition in 1810. It is said (Meteyard's "Life of Wedgewood ") that the Darwins " sprang from a lettered and intellectual race, as his (Dr. Darwin's) father was one among the earliest members of the Spalding Club."
Second generation.-7 males, 3 females, of whom 3 males deserve notice :-(1) Charles Darwin, who died at the age of only 21, poisoned by a dissection wound, but who had already achieved such distinction that his name has been frequently mentioned in biographical dictionaries. His thesis, on obtaining the gold medal of the Edinburgh University, was on the distinction between " pus " and " mucus." It was a real step forward in those early days of exact medical science, and was thought highly of at the time ; (2) Robert Waring Darwin, M.D., F.R.S., a physician, and shrewd observer, of great provincial celebrity, on many grounds, who lived at Shrewsbury. He married a daughter of Wedgewood's, and was father of Charles Darwin (see below); (3) Sir
