i 9 oi.] PARTIAL RETIREMENT 317 



parentage " (chap. I.) not forgetting with "an action of 

 humility" ! Edward I., and Eleanor of Castille. At present 

 I have " Series of Annual Reports" (chap. IX.) on hand, 

 very pleasant work. 



But now I want you, please (and very much indeed), to 

 be kindly thinking of some advice about my entomological 

 work that I am sure you could help me greatly with when 

 we meet. The burthen has become so very great that it 

 seriously affects my health. I am in bed now with another 

 of these attacks ; the constant pressure of work to suit other 

 people's time and convenience, and maybe a tremendous 

 worry, brings on painful and exhausting illness. I hope to 

 be up again to-day, but the doctor is very anxious I should 

 may I call it? u Take in sail." My wish is that the 

 present Annual Report should be the last of the series 

 with an addendum slip of explanation inserted. There 

 is not the important information needed or forwarded 

 that there was twenty years ago, and working hard for 

 months over so much repetition is dreadful drudgery. I 

 heard lately from Dr. Fream, and he very strongly advises 

 me to drop it. If your opinion which I thoroughly trust 

 is the same, I should have no doubt. The difficult thing 

 is to moderate the applications, but I think I see my way to 

 that very nicely by having plenty of the addendum slip 

 printed and sending a copy to an unreasonable applicant. 

 I do not want to give up Entomology entirely. 



How nice it must have been to have a good turn at 

 curling ! 



February 24, 1901. 



In answer to your very kind letter I must tell you I am 

 much better. It was quite my fault that I got so out of 

 sorts ; I ought to have asked my doctor weeks ago what 

 was amiss, and then the difficulty of how I, " all of my own 

 head," was to get that " old man of the sea " the Annual 

 Reports off my shoulders, came on me like a brain shock. 

 However, now I hope things are getting quite nicely into 

 order again. Meanwhile I am trying to arrange what can 

 hardly fail to be a rather explosive announcement. When 

 I came to set to work it did not seem to me that an 

 addendum slip would do. It would have been on such 

 different lines to the statements in the Preface that folks 

 would have wondered what could have happened ! So I 

 mean to have a Cancel, and hope all will be nice. 



One word which I forgot I quite hope to pass on quietly 

 as much Economic Entomology as I possibly can to Dr. 

 MacDougall. 



