ch. iv.] REMINISCENCES. 85 



upright pebbles in the drift at Southampton, and discussed 

 in a letter to Sir A. Geikie, afford another instance. Again, 

 in his letters to Dr. Dohrn, he shows how his interest in 

 barnacles remained alive. I think it was all due to the vi- 

 tality and persistence of his mind a quality I have heard 

 him speak of as if he felt that he w T as strongly gifted in that 

 respect. Xot that he used any such phrases as these about 

 himself, but he would say that he had the power of keeping 

 a subject or question more or less before him for a great 

 many years. The extent to which he possessed this power 

 appears when we consider the number of different problems 

 which he solved, and the early period at which some of 

 them began to occupy him. 



It was a sure sign that he was not well when he was 

 idle at any times other than his regular resting hours ; for, 

 as long as he remained moderately well, there was no break 

 in the regularity of his life. Week-days and Sundays passed 

 by alike, each with their stated intervals of work and rest. 

 It is almost impossible, except for those who watched his 

 daily life, to realise how r essential to his well-being was the 

 regular routine that I have sketched : and with what pain 

 and difficulty anything beyond it was attempted. Any pub- 

 lic appearance, even of the most modest kind, was an effort 

 to him. In 1871 he went to the little village church for the 

 wedding of his elder daughter, but he could hardly bear the 

 fatigue of being present through the short service. The 

 same may be said of the few other occasions on which he 

 was present at similar ceremonies. 



I remember him many years ago at a christening ; a 

 memory which has remained with me, because to us chil- 

 dren his being at church was an extraordinary occurrence. 

 I remember his look most distinctly at his brother Eras- 

 mus's funeral, as he stood in the scattering of snow, 

 wrapped in a long black funeral cloak, with a grave look of 

 sad reverie. 



When, after an absence of many years, he attended a 

 meeting of the Linnean Society, it was felt to be, and was 

 in fact, a serious undertaking ; one not to be determined on 

 without much sinking of heart, and hardly to be carried 

 fjito effect without paying a penalty of subsequent suffering. 

 In the same way a breakfast-party at Sir James Paget's, 

 with some of the distinguished visitors to the Medical Con- 

 gress (1881), was to him a severe exertion. 



The early morning was the only time at which he could 



