SKETCH OF SIR DANIEL WILSON. 265 



them by losing his spectacles, which had to be recovered the next 

 day/' 



He shone as a correspondent. Few idle men kept np so large 

 a correspondence a,s this extremely busy one. His letters, frank, 

 cordial, sympathetic, full of lively touches, apt suggestions, and 

 pleasant reminiscences, were highly prized by all who were 

 favored with them, and gave naturally to strangers who read 

 them a most pleasing impression of the writer's character. The 

 fortunes of his friends were always in his mind. Nothing of joy 

 or sorrow could happen to one of them without eliciting from 

 him a letter of sympathy, which exactly fitted the need. The 

 dumb animals about him " My poor relations," as he was wont 

 to style them shared his tenderness. Long after his death, " a 

 favorite cat haunted his vacant study, evidently seeking the 

 friend who would rather resign his favorite chair than have her 

 disturbed." His benevolence was not undiscriminating, as the 

 regulations of his " Newsboys' Home " sufficiently show ; but in 

 his private charities he allowed himself a freer hand and, so to 

 speak, a willing credulity. " He was a perfect fortune to beggars. 

 Taken in again and again, every new apjDlicant seemed to him ' a 

 very decent-looking fellow,' especially if he happened to be 

 Scotch. And if nothing else could be said, he would excuse his 

 generosity by ' It's hard to be i30or,' or ' I was once poor myself.' 

 He did, indeed, note that the word ' borrow ' seemed to have no 

 connection with that other word ' repay ' ; but he went on lend- 

 ing still." A poor woman who, coming to ask for him, found 

 crape on the door, went away saying, " The blessing of those that 

 consider the poor will surely fall on him and his." 



It is easy to predict that this singularly fine character, illus- 

 trious for many great qualities and achievements, and with no 

 shadows except such pardonable failings as "lean to virtue's 

 side," will shine brighter in becoming better known, and will be 

 hereafter ranked among the beacon-lights of the age. In the sci- 

 entific world, the large-minded and far-seeing scholar, who first 

 gave a place and a name to the science of " prehistoric man," must 

 always be a conspicuous figure. 



In his presidential address before the Geographical Section of the British 

 Association, Mr. Henry Seebohm expressed the opinion that life, areas or zoo- 

 geographical regions are more or less fanciful generalizations. Animals recog- 

 nize facts, and are governed by them in the extension of their ranges ; they care 

 little or nothing about generalizations. The mean temperature of a province 

 is a matter of indifference to some plants and to most animals. The facts that 

 govern their distribution are various, according to the needs of the plant or 

 animal concerned. Actual temperature governs them, not isotherms corrected 

 to sea level. 



