126 FRANCIS ORPEN MORRIS 



subject which ought instinctively to call forth the 

 deepest emotion. Tis easy to see through the 

 hollow speciousness l Hie nigri est succus loligi- 

 nis ; ' which translated into plain English is Mr. 

 Dickens, I am quite sure, is no entomologist." 



His sense of humour was very keen, and few, men 

 enjoyed a good story more than he. This apprecia- 

 tion of the ridiculous would often appear in his 

 conversation, and he always seemed to take delight 

 in telling anything of an amusing nature that he had 

 seen or heard. Needless to say, this feature in his 

 character made itself seen in many of his writings. 

 Even in his " History of Birds" we find passing evi- 

 dences of it ; as, for instance, in his description of 

 the Eagle Owl, which he prefaced by an allusion 

 to an incident recorded in Scrope's " Days and 

 Nights of Salmon-Fishing " of the worthy gentleman 

 who trolled for a day in the vain attempt to catch a 

 wooden pike stuck at the bottom of a pond, and 

 then declared to the host, who inquired if he had 

 caught it for dinner, that though he had not suc- 

 ceeded in doing so, yet that it had "run at him 

 several times." 



Frequently in his letters to the newspapers he 

 would introduce his subject by recording something 

 he had recently seen or heard that had amused him, 

 as when he sent a story to one of the papers about a 

 foxhound, and embellished his account by stating 

 that he had just sent his pamphlet about fox-hunting 

 to an old Oxford friend who, though he was not 

 before aware of it, was a fox-hunter of long standing. 



