172 GILBERT WHITE OF SELBOENE i769 



to Gibraltar. This was his brother John's wife. She 

 had brought to England her only child, who afterwards 

 became known in the family as "Gibraltar Jack." 



His thoughts were evidently turned to his brother's 

 collections at Gibraltar, for the Naturalist's Journal 

 now contains **a proper antiseptic substance for the 

 preservation of birds, etc.," together with directions 

 for applying it, and also a quotation from Linnaeus' 

 'Amoenit. Academ.' vol. iv., as **a motto for my 

 brother John's Naturalist's Journal kept at Gibraltar." 

 And again, ''my brother John's birds are preserved 

 with salt, allom, and pepper." 



It had been a disappointment that an intended 

 visit to Selborne by John Mulso and his family had 

 been given up. On November 1st, 1769, his friend 

 was addressed — 



" Dear Gil, — You are a man, as I have long known, so very 

 much master of your Passions, and so guarded in your be- 

 haviour and even in your expressions, that when I see a little 

 ebullition I guess there is a considerable fire beneath. Thus in 

 your letter that lies before me I see that you was more than 

 commonly disappointed in not having my wife's and daughter's 

 Company and mine at Selborne this summer. . . . You 

 hardly now know what you ask, when you ask for our 

 Company, and for a good while. We are expensive and we 

 are troublesome guests. We both cry out *non sum qualis 

 eram' . . . We are greasy, sedentary, potations Inmates. 

 Take us therefore if you dare, but let there be some agree- 

 able female Companion at hand to sit with Mrs. Mulso in 

 the Bottom, while I once more wheeze and sweat to arrive 

 at the Top of the charming Hanger. My Jenny will be an 



