Abstract
A SON who follows a famous father is apt generally to find himself in somewhat of the position of a sequel to a very popular romance, and that Francis Darwin stands prominently forth in the light of his own achievements is enough to show that in him we possessed a man of great distinction. Whilst he will probably remain best known as the author of his father's Life, much of his work in other lines has borne fruit. But to those who had the privilege of his friendship, he will always be a living memory on account of his very human personality, his great kindness of heart and ready sympathy, and his extraordinary personal modesty. The writer well remembers his astonishment, when first attending Darwin's lectures, at his frequent confessions of ignorance (shared, of course, even if not admitted, by all other physiologists) upon this or that point that was under consideration. This, though to-day a more common frame of mind, was less customary at that time, when the teacher usually strove to make a more or less completely rounded presentation of his subject, avoiding the unknown or the little understood so far as was conveniently possible.
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Sir Francis Darwin, F.R.S.. Nature 116, 583–584 (1925). https://doi.org/10.1038/116583a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/116583a0