534 Life and Letters of Francis Galton 



man}' years, were descended from a single queen bee, sent by post to England from the Riviera. 

 Is it possible 1 ! I am not sorry to remain several weeks longer in England, being not strong 

 enough now for the risks of an ordinary journey. We hope to be off in the second week of 

 February. Things go on here in a humdrum regular way. No real advance just now. Loves 

 to you all. Ever affectionately, Francis Galton. 



Galtonia*. 



Floret hermaphroditi, regulares, penduli, bractea membranacea stipati, longe pedicellati, 

 pedicellis summo apice articulatis. 



Perigonium corollinum, candidum, campanulatum, limbo 6-fido, patente, laciniis planis vix 

 apice papilloso-incrassatis, exterioribus oblongis, interioribus obovatis basi angustatis. 



Stamina biseriata, subaequalia, tubo ad faucem inserta, inclusa, filamentis subulatis, glabris ; 

 antheris oblongis, dorso medio affixis, oleaginis; polline aureo. 



Ovarium sessile, oblongum triloculare, loculis pluriovulatis septis glandulis nectariferis 

 minimis; ovula biseriata, anatropa. 



Stylus cum ovario continuus, erectus, obsolete trigonus stamina superans v. subaequans; 

 stigmata tria, sessilia. 



Capsula sessilis, oblonga, membranacea, reticulata) venosa, loculicide f trivalvis, polysperma. 



Seraina ovata, mutua pressione angulata, testa membranacea, nigro-fusca ; albumen carnosum ; 

 embryo cylindricus longitudine albuminis. 



Herbae bulbosae, Africae australis incolae. Bulbus tunicatus. Folia pauca, magna, linearia, 

 erecta v. patula, crassiuscula, glauca. Scapus metralis. Flores racemosi, inodori, albi, speciosi, 

 bractea membranacea integra v. inferne lobulata stipati; pedicelli in fioribus virgineis reflexis, 

 fecundatione peracta, erecti, summo apice sub perianthio articulati. 



* Galton (Francis), auteur du "Narrative of an Explorer in South Africa," London, 1853. 



From "Note sur le Galtonia (llyacinthus candicans), nouveau genre de Liliacees de l'Afrique 

 australe," Flores des Serres et des Jardins de I' Europe, Tom. xxm, p. 32, 1880. 



42, Rutland Gate, S.W. January 1, 1905. 

 Dearest Milly, This is my first letter in 1905, written with a new pen and in a new suit of 

 clothes. Also I feel a new man, the cough having apparently gone with 1904. A very happy New 

 Year to you and all yours. I was so glad to hear what you told me about Frank. All your sons 

 and your daughter are so much liked. It must be a great pleasure to you. I got out this morning 

 for a long drive (for me) round Regent's Park, without being tired. I suppose it has turned 

 cold with you as with us. The N. wind has driven the fog away, and we saw some sun at last. If 

 life that has no history is happ)', mine now must be supremely so, for I have no news whatever. 

 I got to the Club yesterday; people seemed older; even Lord Avebury who was boyish for half a 

 century looks at last rather old, the hair changing from colour to colourless. Dear Emma's grave- 

 stone is not even yet put up. Bessy tells me that the grave is prepared for it and that she has seen 

 the tablet, which the stone mason brought to her, but there has been some delay about the stone 

 itself, which is due from Portland. I wonder if it is quarried by convicts, or do they only quarry 

 stone for Government works'! This terrible Jap war ! and the soldiers freezing with cold. How 

 they do quarry mines ! Fancy the explosion of two tons of dynamite. It was, I think, one ton 

 that blew up in a barge some time ago in the Regent's Canal — or was it only gunpowder? — and 

 shattered all the windows near and sent the tigress in the Zoo into hysterics. It must have 

 been only gunpowder, or the canal would have been destroyed, and much besides. Love to you 

 all and regards to the rats if more than one remains. Ever affectionately, Francis Galton. 



42, Rutland Gate, S.W. January 8, 1905. 



Dearest Milly, It must have been a great shock to you, that horrible accident close to 



your gate. Poor fellow, even if drunk, the punishment to him and his family exceeded 



apparently his sins, by far. I have often wondered and talked with people about what the 



results would be if our sympathies were vastly keener, or to put it in another way: What should 



f Mr. V. Summerhayes, who has kindly looked for me at the specimens of Galtonia in the 

 Herbarium at Kew, informs me that the capsules seem to be dehiscing for a short distance both 

 loculieidally and septicidally, along six sutures in all. The capsule then seems to act as a censer 

 or pepper pot mechanism, since dehiscence apparently never goes beyond the upper third. 



