xvi MEMBER LONDON UNIVERSITY 179 



Fox Pitt, daughter of General Pitt Rivers. The 

 General's interest in archaeology, and his museum 

 at Rushmore would naturally supply a common 

 ground of interest which he and Sir John might 

 share. 



His very first meeting with Miss Fox Pitt 

 was characteristic of his unfailing kindliness and 

 thought for other people. The party was a 

 large one, and she, a girl of eighteen, a niece of 

 the house, had come down late for breakfast. 

 It appears that he had not seen her the previous 

 night. She received a sharp scolding from her 

 aunt. Those were days when unpunctuality for 

 breakfast, or perhaps even breakfasting in bed, 

 were not a habit as they now are. The rest of 

 the party rose from the table and left the young 

 girl alone — all except Sir John, who remained 

 to keep her company and to attend to her wants. 



Under date November 9, Sir John notes 

 that he was at Woburn for the " week-end," 

 where was Count Bismarck amongst the party, 

 and that the Duke of Bedford quoted a passage 

 of Pomponius Mela on Ireland (Be Situ Orbis, 

 Liber III., caput 6) : " Cultores eius inconditi 

 sunt, et omnium virtutum ignari, pietatis 

 admodum expertes." 



On December 1 he read a paper at the Linnean 

 on the Limits in Vision of the Lower Animals, 

 showing that they could see further than we 

 are able to, at the violet end of the spectrum. 



It was in 1881, too, that he began his interest- 

 ing study on the form of leaves. I remember 

 his saying to me, " Has it ever occurred to you 

 to ask yourself why it is that the leaf buds of 



