LIFE OF FLOWER 23 



and charm of manner. To the present writer, it may 

 be said perhaps without undue egotism, he was a friend 

 and counsellor such as cannot be expected more than 

 once in a life-time. 



No better summary of Sir William's general character 

 and high attributes can perhaps be given (certainly the 

 present writer cannot attempt to rival it) than the one 

 drawn up by his biographer in the "Year-book" of 

 the Royal Society for 1901, which may accordingly be 

 quoted in extenso : 



" In private life no one was more beloved and 

 esteemed. He was in every sense a domestic man, 

 finding the highest joys that life brought him with 

 his family and children. The same courtly bearing and 

 high tone, the same preference for all that was good, was 

 in private circles mingled with the same genial smile, 

 the fascinating account of something interesting or novel, 

 and the respect and deference to others, which was part 

 of his upright, unselfish nature. Many a young natura- 

 list will gratefully remember the kind encouragement 

 and valued advice he was ever ready to offer, and the 

 stimulus which the sympathetic interest of a leader in 

 the department gave him. 



" In the busy life of Sir William and in the constant 

 calls on brain and nervous system strong though these 

 were there came times when a feeling of lassitude with 

 headache and spinal uneasiness, if not prostration, 

 showed that the indoor life and the strain of many 

 duties had told with severity both on the central nervous 

 system and on the heart. His annual holiday sufficed in 

 many cases to recruit his energies, especially when he 

 visited Scotland and the charming home of his friends, 



