1839-40. SEARCH FOR LECTURE-ROOM. 241 



" I hope you will like him ; I am sure you have a great deal 

 in common, and you may find him a pleasant and useful compa- 

 nion. We want to give you the red ribbon, as soon as your 

 paper is done. It was he proposed you, for great was my sur- 

 prise when I heard read out among the names of the candidates, 

 one David Wilson. ' May I ask,' said I, ' who this namesake of 

 mine is V ' Oh ! that's your brother.' ' Oh ! said I, ' then Daniel 

 is the name he rejoices in/ and so you were un-Davided. 



" Forbes is bringing out a book on the star-fish, for Van 

 Voorst, in the style of the Zoological Gardens, with head and 

 tail-pieces, which he is at present drawing here on wood. One 

 of the tail-pieces, illustrating the class of sea-urchins, is very 

 good. It represents a hedgehog, a sea-urchin, and two little 

 knavish rascals, admiring each other on the sea-shore. In this 

 way, all the kinds of urchins are most oddly brought together. 

 I'll give Forbes a letter to you ; he knows how busy you are, 

 and will not waste your time. 



" I have been seeking for a room to lecture in all over the 

 town, but have not yet found one, and am induced to delay, as 

 there is some prospect of a better room turning up than any yet 

 proposed to me. One trump card has turned up among the many 

 blanks that have been coming to my share, with a goodly set of 

 knave cards too among them. This is Christison letting me 

 work in his laboratory. I shall thus get something ready for 

 the Association at Glasgow this autumn. You must get your 

 visit over by the end of August at least, as I am engaged for 

 September there. 



" Do you remember Mrs. Goldsmith, the old English widow 

 lady ? A daughter of hers, Mrs. Lillie, a widow, and a young 

 lady friend, visited Scotland last summer, and I was out a day 

 with them at Eoslin. The talk turning on verses, I was asked 

 for some, and promised them ; the next day I called with a copy, 

 but the lady was gone. Guess my surprise when I received a 

 note from London yesterday, saying that Mrs. Lillie feared Dr. 

 Wilson had forgotten his promise, or lost her address, so I 

 must send them off : that's the way grave studies are stopped." 



Speaking of this lady, he tells his sister Mary, " I have sent 

 her copies of the ' Snowdrop' and Music piece, and by way of 



Q 



