1873 TOUR IN THE AUVERGNE 105 



M. Aymard, the curator, he could not find the exact 

 spot. Under the sketch is a description of the 

 remains, in which he notes, " The bones do not look 

 fresher than some of those of Elephas and Ehinoceros 

 in the same or adjacent cases." 



As for the final stage of the excursion : 



After leaving the Ardeche (continues Sir J. Hooker), 

 with no Scrope to lead or follow, our scientific ardours 

 collapsed. We had vague views as to future travel. 

 Whatever one proposed was unhesitatingly acceded to by 

 the other. A more happy-go-lucky pair of idlers never 

 joined company. 



As will be seen from the following letters, they 

 made their way to tre Black Forest, where they 

 stayed till Sir Josephs duties called him back to 

 England, and my mother came out to join my father 

 for the rest of his holiday. 1 



1 You ask me (Sir Joseph adds) whether your father smoked 

 on the occasion of this tour. Yes, he did, cigars in moderation. 

 But the history of his addiction to tobacco that grew upon him 

 later in life, dates from an earlier excursion that we took together, 

 and I was the initiator of the practice. It happened in this wise ; 

 he had been suffering from what was supposed to be gastric 

 irritation, and, being otherwise "run down," we agreed to go, in 

 company with Sir John Lubbock, on a tour to visit the great 

 monoliths of Brittany. This was in 1867. On arriving at Dinan 

 he suffered so much, that I recommended his trying a few cigarettes 

 which I had with me. They acted as a charm, and this led to 

 cigars, and finally, about 1875 I think, to the pipe. That he 

 subsequently carried the use of tobacco to excess is, I think, un- 

 questionable. I repeatedly remonstrated with him, at last I think 

 (by backing his medical adviser) with effect. 



I have never blamed myself for the "teaching him" to smoke, 

 for the practice habitually palliated his distressing symptoms when 

 nothing else did, nor can his chronic illness be attributed to the 

 abuse of tobacco. 



