326 GILBERT WHITE OF SELBOENE 1776 



To the Bev. John White. 



Meonstoke, Aug. 9, 1776. 



Dear Brother, — By your unusual silence I began to fear 

 what has really been the case, ill health. You have perhaps 

 by your attention to your book and other matters been too 

 free with your constitution lately : you must therefore relax 

 a little, and allow yourself more time for riding and walking. 

 Particularly, I think, you should avoid contention though in 

 ever so good a cause : for any earnest agitation of the mind 

 is bad for the stomach and bowels. 



Luccomb's oak, we think, will probably turn out at last 

 the Querctos cegilops : but this matter cannot well be deter- 

 mined 'til it comes to bear fruit. It carries its leaf all the 

 winter in Devon, but casts it at Selborne, Essex, and else- 

 where ; and is probably a deciduous tree. 



Perhaps your homo sapiens may be too close a copying 

 of the Linn, system, and may appear pedantic to an anti- 

 Linn, reader. I by no means want the Hippolosca hirund: 

 just at any one particular day or week; only wish to see 

 it at your leisure. Mr. Grimm was with me just 28 days ; 

 24 of which he worked very hard, and shewed good 

 specimens of his genius, assiduity, and modest behaviour, 

 much to my satisfaction. He finished for me 12 views. 

 He first of all sketches his scapes with a lead-pencil ; then 

 he pens them all over, as he calls it, with indian-ink, 

 rubbing out the superfluous pencil- strokes ; then he gives 

 a charming shading with a brush dipped in indian-ink ; 

 and last he throws a light tinge of water-colours over the 

 whole. The scapes, many of them at least, looked so lovely 

 in their indian-ink shading, that it was with difficulty the 

 artist could prevail on me to permit him to tinge them; 

 as I feared those colours might puzzle the engravers: but 

 he assured me to the contrary. From me Mr. G. went 

 to Mr. Yalden to take a scape of his outlet from above 



