60 LIFE OF SIR JOHN LUBBOCK oh. 



of leaves and flowers — he did good and original 

 work in all." 



Possibly Lord Avebury's gift of humour has 

 not been appreciated as it ought to be. The 

 above may be accepted as a striking witness to 

 it. We must realise that he had quite an active 

 dislike to wit that was barbed with malice or 

 instinct with cynicism, nor was willing to admit 

 that such maxims as La Rochefoucauld's could 

 be redeemed by all their cleverness. Yet his 

 own humour was occasionally of a gently ironic 

 kind, as in the following passage from the 

 Pleasures of Life : " The Medicine man is a 

 Priest, or rather a Sorcerer, more than a Doctor, 

 and his effort is to exorcise the evil spirit. In 

 other countries, where some advance has been 

 made, a charm is written on a board, washed off 

 and drunk. In some cases the medicine is 

 taken, not by the patient, but by the Doctor. 

 Such a system, however, is generally transient ; 

 it is naturally discouraged by the Profession, 

 and is indeed incompatible with a large prac- 

 tice." 



His activity, especially in science, during 1863 

 may be judged from the following brief summary : 



At Easter he went down to Scotland to visit 

 the Elgin shell-mounds. 



He was made President of the Ethnological 

 Society. 



He gave several lectures, including his first 

 at the Royal Institution. 



He was made Secretary of the London Bankers, 

 August 17. 



He contributed to the Transactions of the 



