and The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881).  D., with a modesty which was one of his chief characteristics, disclaimed for himself the possession of any remarkable talents except “an unusual power of noticing things which easily escape attention, and of observing them carefully.”  In addition, however, to this peculiar insight, he had a singular reverence for truth and fact, enormous industry, and great self-abnegation:  and his kindliness, modesty, and magnanimity attracted the affection of all who knew him.

Life and Letters, by his son, F. Darwin, 3 vols., 1887; C.  Darwin and the Theory of Natural Selection.  E.B.  Poulton, 1896; various short Lives by Grant Allen and others.

DARWIN, ERASMUS (1731-1802).—­Poet, physician, and scientist, was b. at Elston, Notts, and ed. at Camb. and at Edin., where he took his degree of M.D.  He ultimately settled in Lichfield as a physician, and attained a high professional reputation, so much so that he was offered, but declined, the appointment of physician to George III.  In 1778 he formed a botanical garden, and in 1789 pub. his first poem, The Loves of the Plants, followed in 1792 by The Economy of Vegetation, which combined form The Botanic Garden.  Another poem, The Temple of Nature, was pub. posthumously.  He also wrote various scientific works in prose.  The poems of D., though popular in their day, are now little read.  Written in polished and sonorous verse, they glitter with startling similes and ingenious, though often forced, analogies, but have little true poetry or human interest.

DASENT, SIR GEORGE WEBBE (1817-1896).—­Scandinavian scholar, b. in the island of St. Vincent, of which his f. was Attorney-general, ed. at Westminster School, King’s Coll., London, and Oxf., he entered the diplomatic service, and was for several years Sec. to the British Embassy at Stockholm, where he became interested in Scandinavian literature and mythology.  Returning to England he was appointed Assistant Ed. of The Times (1845-1870).  In 1852 he was called to the Bar, and in the following year was appointed Prof. of English Literature and Modern History at King’s Coll., London, an office which he held for 13 years.  He was knighted in 1876.  His principal writings have to do with Scandinavian language, mythology, and folk-lore, and include an Icelandic Grammar, The Prose or Younger Edda (1842), Popular Tales from the Norse (1859), The Saga of Burnt Njal (1861), and The Story of Gisli the Outlaw (1866), mostly translated from the Norwegian of Asbjoernsen.  He also translated the Orkney and Hacon Sagas for the Rolls Series, and wrote four novels, Annals of an Eventful Life, Three to One, Half a Life, and The Vikings of the Baltic.  His style is pointed and clear.