83 THE R$V. J. G. WOOD. 



spring. These were the subjects of the first three 

 papers, and then came others on a certain small pond, 

 historically known as " Mrs. Coates' Bath," which was 

 full of aquatic creatures of all kinds ; an English lane 

 in the height of summer ; the wood ant ; the green 

 crab ; the stinging jelly-fish ; the toad ; the " Children 

 of the New Forest " ; a blackberry bush in autumn ; and 

 the repose of Nature. And then followed a few mis- 

 cellaneous papers, two of them bearing the rather 

 singular titles of " Turkey and Oysters," and " De 

 Monstris." 



In July of this year my father met with a most 

 serious accident. He was always somewhat notorious 

 for the brittleness of his bones, and already, in my own 

 recollection of him, had broken no less than five ribs : 

 three by collision with a low post when unwisely 

 running at some little speed in the darkness, in which 

 his shortness of sight rendered him practically blind ; 

 and two by walking against a tombstone when taking a 

 funeral, a gust of wind suddenly lifting up his surplice 

 and blowing it over his head, so that he was unable to 

 see the obstacle in his way. And previously to this, as 

 already mentioned, he had broken his leg, and his arm, 

 and his collar-bone (twice), and his nose, and had also 

 suffered various dislocations and lesser injuries. But 

 the accident which now befell him was more serious 

 by far than any of these, and he never really recovered 

 from its effects to the end of his life. 



He had promised we were living at Belvedere at 

 the time to take the morning duty on a certain Sunday 



