Summary

The title page of Chapter 18, “Barnacles and Babies,” includes a quote from Charles in his autobiography about how much he enjoyed his work. The chapter begins “in July of 1845, about nine months after Charles read Vestiges, George Darwin was born,” the fourth Darwin child (126). Emma’s mother was sick, so she left to take care of her - leaving the children with Charles. Charles kept Emma updated on how the children wreaked havoc in the house. Emma and Charles were not very strict with where the children could play, so Charles mostly kept to his study. His daughter Etty once remembered barging into his study and her father giving her his “patient look” saying, “Do you think you could not come in again. I have been interrupted very often” (127).

In October of 1846, Charles began to study a barnacle he had found off the...