468 THE LAST YEABS 



neighbour, * those who never saw him will be able to under- 

 stand why Darwin was so much beloved by his friends.' 



Writing to Mrs. Paisley on August 11, Hooker describes 

 his share in the celebrations. 



At Cambridge we stayed with one of the Darwin family, 

 Horace, the youngest of Mr. Darwin's sons, a scientific 

 instrument maker in Cambridge and F.E.S. (as are two 

 other of Mr. Darwin's sons, George, Prof, of Astronomy, 

 Frank of Botany). The celebration was most successful, 

 and nothing could exceed the delight of the Delegate 

 foreigners, some of whom were invited to bring their wives 

 and daughters. The number of lady guests was remarkable, 

 and added brilliance to all the functions, besides amazing 

 the foreigners, who are not accustomed to see ladies at 

 their Jubilees. The hospitality was boundless, and what 

 struck me most was Mr. Balfour's address at the Banquet 

 (at which I was not present) ; he grasped every salient 

 point in Darwin's character, works, and their results on the 

 progress of science and civilisation in a truly magic manner. 



Of course H. took care that I took only corners and 

 snatches of the intellectual food that was spread over every 

 day and part of every night ; and living as I was in the heart 

 of the Darwin family as a brother, I did indeed feel grateful 

 and happy with what I had. 



He tells also of their meeting with the famous Dr. Metch- 

 nikoff of the Pasteur Institute, 1 whose wonderful sour milk 

 cure Lady Hooker had been trying, and of his amusement 

 when Hooker introduced her as a patient who had benefited 

 by his nostrum. 



Of the public functions, he attended the presentation of 

 addresses by the delegates, where the German orator, not yet 

 by Imperial decree cursing where he had blessed, was among 

 the most brilliant of the speakers ; he attended the garden 

 parties and even the late reception at the Fitzwilliam, where 

 the inward eye can still see him, robed in his LL.D gown, 

 as he rested in a sheltered alcove, receiving the affectionate 



1 Dr. Elias Metchnikoff (d. 1916), F.L.S. 1880, was elected a Foreign Mem- 

 ber of the Royal Society, 1905, and awarded the Copley Medal in 1906. 



