8i8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to watch the face of the first person who examined it. He amused 

 himself, one Sunday evening, on another occasion, in making herring- 

 roe out of tapioca-pudding and whisky, to puzzle the witnesses whom 

 he was to examine on the Monday ; and he raised a laugh on a third 

 occasion hy telling a witness, who said he was a shoemaker, that, to 

 judge from the appearance of the children's feet, he should think he 

 had a very poor trade. Throughout his journeys, specimens of every 

 kind, living, dying, and dead, were thrown into his bag, possibly to 

 keep company with his boots or his clothes. The odor of the bag 

 usually increased with the length of the inspection, and on one occa- 

 sion, when it was exceptionally offensive, he said to the boots of a 

 very smart hotel, " I think you had better put this bag into the cellar, 

 as I should not be at all surprised if it smelt by to-moiTow morn- 

 xwg. 



The love of fun and laughter, which was perceptible while he was 

 transacting the dullest business, distinguished him equally as a writer. 

 It was his object, so he himself thought, to make natural history prac- 

 tical ; but it was his real mission to make natural history and fish- 

 culture popular. He popularized everything that he touched ; he hated 

 the scientific terms which other naturalists employed, and invariably 

 used the sim2:)lest language for describing his meaning. His "writings 

 were unequal : some of them are not marked by any exceptional quali- 

 ties. But others of them, such as the best parts of the " Curiosities of 

 Natural History," and " The Royal Academy without a Catalogue," 

 are admirable examples of good English, keen critical observation, and 

 rich humor. His best things, he used to say himself, were written on 

 the box of an omnibus or in a railway-carriage. " The Royal Academy 

 without a Catalogue " was written between London and Crewe, and 

 posted at the latter station. He had originally acquired the art of 

 writing in a railway-train from the late Bishop of Oxford. He prac- 

 ticed it with as much zeal as the Bishop did, and with as good effect. 

 The more labored compositions which Mr. Buckland undertook did 

 not always contain equal traits of happy humor. He was at his 

 best when he took the least pains, and a collection of his very best 

 pieces would deserve a permanent place in any collection of English 

 essays. 



Desultory work of this character made Mr. Buckland's name a 

 household word throughout the country. His articles were copied 

 and recopied into various newspapers, and obtained, in this way, hun- 

 dreds of thousands of readers. But, at the same time, this desultory 

 work necessarily prevented him from accomplishing any literary task 

 of first-rate excellence. Some of his personal popularity was thus pur- 

 chased at the cost of his future reputation ; and a mass of knowledge 

 has died with him which might otherwise have been preserved. It is 

 no exaggeration to say that he had collected during his busy life a 

 vast store of information. He had trained himself to observe, and his 



