176                                                                     [chap, xiii
 

CHAPTER XIII

1860—1869

A long illness—The death of Charlotte Langton—Scarlet fever—^A
humane trap for animals—Catherine Darwin's marriage—My
father's continual illness—The deaths of Catherine Langton
and Susan Darwin—The Huxley children at IJown=—George a
second Wrangler—A month in London—Elizabeth Wedgwood
comes to Down—Freshwater—My father's accident out riding
—Shrewsbury and Caerdeon.

In 1860 my poor mother's thoughts and time were en¬
grossed with the care of me in a long Ulness (probably
typhoid fever) lasting with relapses from May, 1860, till
Midsummer, 1861. In July I was well enough to be moved
to Hartfield, " the kindly hospital for all who are sick or
sorry " as Fanny Allen called it. But I soon had a bad
relapse and gave her as much anxiety as ever.
 

Charles Darwin to his son William.

Habtfield, Monday {July 30, I860].

Poor Etty will long be an invalid, but we are now too
happy even at that poor prospect. Your letter has amused
us all extremely, and was read with roars of laughter.
Etty has not yet heard it; but you cannot think what a
pleasure your letters are to her; they amuse and cheer her
so nicely. I shall copy your account of dialogue before
the Bishop and send it to Hooker and Huxley. You may
tell the gardener that I have seen an ant's nest in a tree,
but it is rare. . . .

The Review by the Bishop of Oxford and Owen in last
Quarterly is worth looking at. I am splendidly quizzed
by a quotation from the Anti-Jacobin.    The naturalists are