152 
NATURE NOTES. 
he had found some most important correspondence of White, which he hoped 
soon to make public. 
Mr. Whitaker, in responding to the toast, observed that he, at least, was free 
from the besetting sin of the ambitious collector. His interests lay wholly with 
fossils, instead of with the living species, and, therefore, in collecting specimens- 
wherever he could find them, he was doing a good service in preserving what 
might easily be lost altogether, or used to make the foundation of a road. 
Dr. Dudi.EY Bu.xton having proposed the health of the White family, 
!Mr. Rasiileigh Holt White pointed out that though White lived in a pre- 
scientific age he had, in his letter No. 35, in some degree anticipated Darwin’s 
great monograph on earth-worms. White’s methods of observation were those of 
a true scientific man. There could be no statue of Gilbert White because no 
likeness of him existed. Mr. Holt White said that both his father and grand- 
father had been applied to for pictures of Gilbert White, and in vain. 
The Rev. H. D. Gordo.k proposed the health of the Earl of Selborne, and his 
lordship having responded, the formal proceedings of the day terminated. 
As the carriages were not to return till 6.30 there was still ample time left for 
the party to visit the various points of interest in Selborne. First of these is the 
Hanger, the steep ascent of which fronted the luncheon tent. It requires no small 
degree of wind and energy to climb the Hanger by the famous zig-zag ; but for 
the hardy spirits who attempt the ascent there is ample reward at the summit in 
the fine view which is obtained of the surrounding countrj’. White in his poem 
on the Hanger refers to the zig-zag thus : — 
“ When spouting rains descend in torrent tides. 
See the torn zig-zag weep its channelled sides.” 
Fortunately the centenary party did not see the zig-zag under these terrible 
conditions. And by the way, did Gilbert \Vhite himself devise the zig-zag ? In 
one of his early letters he significantly remarks : “As we were cutting an inclining 
path up the Ilanger.” 
Another principal point of interest was “ The Wakes,” the house which Gilbert 
White occupied, which was thrown open for the day by its present owner, 
]Mr. Read. “The Wakes” abuts on the village street, almost opposite the 
Plestor. It has been much renovated and extended since Professor Bell lived 
there, but the back part of the building is practically as it was left by Gilbert 
White. The room in which he wrote and the room in which he died both 
remain unaltered; and the old sun-dial in the garden marked the flight of time for 
him as it does now for his successors. It is to be regretted that the relics of 
White which Professor Bell so assiduously collected should have been dispersed to 
a large extent at his death. Such relics would give a greatly enhanced interest to 
the old house. 
Behind the Plestor stands the little square-towered church. An enormous 
yew-tree is growing between the wicket gate and the church porch. Its branches 
still spread wide, though some of its biggest limbs have broken away. The walls 
on either side of the altar of the church hold memorial tablets to Gilbert White 
and other members of the White famil)-. There are also to be seen two stone 
sarcophagi which were disinterred by Professor Bell, and which contained two 
perfect skeletons. The age of these confirms the conclusions of archaeologists, 
who recognise the architecture of the Church as that of the Norman restoration 
period. Gilbert White himself carried its existence back no further than Henry 
^TI.’s time. Of the little cluster of graves within this secluded churchyard, 
Gilbert White’s is one of the humblest and most obscure. It lies fifth from the 
north wall of the aisle, and is marked only by two simple stones, bearing the 
inscription “ G. W., died 26th June, 1793.” The lettering is almost obliterated 
by moss and the wear of weather, and the mound between the stones bears 
no plant nor flower ; but theie is something about this very simplicity — pathetic 
though it be — that fits in with the character of him who sleeps beneath that 
mound. 
The party drove back to Alton in time to catch the 7.44 train to town. The 
arrangements for the excursion were carried out without a hitch, and the cele- 
bration of the centenary can undoubtedly be pronounced an unqualified success. 
