124 CORRESPONDENCE WITH HIS FAMILY. 



about 26s. Farther west, where they have nothing but chalk 

 downs, all their barley was pretty well spoiled; so that Harry 

 complains he cannot, as yet, get any price at all for his crop. 

 What pigeons in a state of nature may do I cannot pretend 

 to say ; but this I know, that tame pigeons which are pam- 

 pered by high feeding and lie perhaps under more frequent 

 temptations from living together in crowds, are apt to forget 

 the rules of strict chastity, and follow too often the example 

 of people in high life. As to the smaller birds, it would be 

 very difficult to ascertain the identity of the man and wife in 

 different years. 



Yours affect. 



GIL. WHITE. 



I thank you for this hint, and shall always be glad of more. 



LETTER XXI. 



TO SAMUEL BARKER. 



London, March 20, 1776. 



Dear Sam, 

 You may comfort yourself that you are not the only person 

 that finds himself under difficulties respecting the sexuality of 

 mosses ; for Mr. Curtis is by no means satisfyed concerning 

 the distinctions made use of, but suspects very much that 

 there are not the same obvious distinctions in them which in 

 the more common plants so rationally support the Linngean 

 system. He is a very friendly man and always willing to 

 communicate, and has therefore desired me to send you down 

 the enclosed plate, containing representations of the fructifi- 

 cation &c. of his mosses, such as he uses in his own lectures 

 on the occasion. In the plate respecting the male and female 

 Vallisneria you will see a wonderful instance of the wisdom 

 of providence *. 



* [The female flowers of Vallimeria are kept floating on the surface of 

 the water by the tendril-like construction of the flexible stalk ; the male 



