320 EETIEEMENT, TO 1897 : DABWINIANA, ETC. 



that wants a function of that sort performed send to London 

 for an operator ? To me the fittest thing appears to be that 

 the Lord Lieut., or Sheriff of the County, or its M.P. should 

 perform the office, inviting all the Listers and Huxleys and 

 Lubbocks to attend at the ceremony, and, if they will kindly 

 do so, say a few words on the occasion. It is all very well 

 if you want to get up a subscription, to get a Prince, Duke, 

 or P.K.S. to come and tickle the pockets of the town. In 

 the case of unveiling, it should be a source of pride to the 

 townsman or countyman, whereas it is a huge bore to the 

 outsider. ' Them's my sentiments.' 



The Committee approving of the idea, he added (March 8) : 



I am sure it is right. The looking to London for all out- 

 comes is a mistake and emasculates the country's energies. 



The sculptor at first proposed to add a symbolic ornamenta- 

 tion on the back of the chair in which the figure is seated ; 

 but thinking this out of keeping with the perfect simplicity of 

 the rest, Hooker advised successfully that this be abandoned. 



For my part I think that the Committee are most fortu- 

 nate in the matter of the execution of the work, in respect 

 of both pose and likeness ; and were it mine to deal with, 

 I would let well alone and not ' try to make the elephant 

 dance,' as they say in India. 



The unveiling took place in the beginning of September 1 

 1897, and Hooker attended the ceremony. 



Knowing his friend's perennial interest in the Himalayas, 

 Mr. La Touche used to send on his son's letters from India. 



To the Same 



Dec. 28, 1892. 



I should have thought that there were abundant traces 

 of the Glacial period in the Himalaya. 



I was reading a review the other day of some one's book 

 on the Earth's crust, who thought that it was subject to 

 pressure from mountain masses ; if so the bases of the moun- 

 tain masses must be a mile deep, and it struck me that this 

 might account for the curious phenomenon of the strata 



