150 Mary Somerville. 



John kept fancy pigeons of all breeds. He told 

 me he could alter the colour of their plumage in 

 three years by cross-breeding, but that it required 



fully six to alter the shape of the bird. 



* * * * * 



At some house where we were dining in London, 

 I forget with whom, Ugo Foscolo, the poet, was 

 one of the party. He was extremely excitable and 

 irritable, and when some one spoke of a translation 

 of Dante as being perfect, "Impossible," shouted 

 Foscolo, starting up in great excitement, at the 

 same time tossing his cup full of coffee into the 

 air, cup and all, regardless of the china and the 

 ladies' dresses. He died in England, I fear in great 

 poverty. He was a most distinguished classical 

 scholar as well as poet. His remains have been 

 brought to Italy within these few years, and in- 

 terred in Sante Croce, in Florence. 



***** 



I had a severe attack of what appeared to be 

 cholera, and during my recovery Mrs. Hankey very 

 kindly lent us her villa at Hampstead for a few 

 weeks. There I went with my children, Somerville 

 with some friends always coming to dinner on the 

 Sundays. On one of these occasions there was a 

 violent thunderstorm, and a large tree was struck 

 not far from the house. We all went to look at the 



