300 GEOEGE JOHN EOMANES i893 



gun from the fort, one of the gunners somehow got 

 in front of the cannon and was blown to atoms. I 

 suppose they were all confused with the wind and the 

 spray. 



The waterproof coat you sent me is in great 

 requisition. Moreover it is a source of great amuse- 

 ment to the Inner Brotherhood, as Miss Taylor has 

 discovered in it a close resemblance to a hassock — 

 no, I mean a cassock. She wants me to get a round 

 hat wherewith to ' cap ' it when I return to Oxford. 

 All the same, it is the best thing in the way of a 

 waterproof that I have met as yet. 



March 19. 



I have got Weismann's new book, ' The Germ- 

 Plasm.' It is a much more finished performance 

 than the ' Essays.' In fact, he has evidently been 

 consulting botanists, reading up English literature on 

 the subject, so he has anticipated nearly aU the 

 points of my long criticisms. This is a nuisance. 



Per contra, since coming here I have heard of no 

 less than three additional cases of cats which have 

 lost their tails afterwards having tailless kittens. I 

 wish to goodness I had been more energetic in get- 

 ting on with my experiments about this, so I have 

 written to John to get me twelve kittens to meet me 

 on my return. It would be. a grand thing to knock 

 down W.'s whole edifice with a cat's tail. 



The monotony of life here is becoming intolerable. 

 There is nothing to write about. 



You will have seen that Taine is dead. I was 

 just about to write to him, to ask if he would be the 

 Bomanes lecturer. 



