It is a little curious that each of these great scientists should have
been born in a house overlooking a well-known river--the home of the
Darwins standing on the banks of the Severn, at Shrewsbury, and that of
the Wallaces a stone's throw from the waters of the romantic and
beautiful Usk, of Monmouthshire.
With remarkable clearness Dr. Wallace could recall events and scenes
back to the time when he was only 4 years of age. His first childish
experiment occurred about that time, due to his being greatly impressed
by the story of the "Fox and the Pitcher" in AEsop's Fables. Finding a
jar standing in the yard outside their house, he promptly proceeded to
pour a small quantity of water into it, and then added a handful of
small stones. The water not rising to the surface, as it did in the
fable, he found a spade and scraped up a mixture of earth and pebbles
which he added to the stones already in the jar. The result, however,
proving quite unsatisfactory, he gave up the experiment in disgust and
refused to believe in the truth of the fable. His restless brain and
vivid imagination at this early period is shown by some dreams which he
could still recall when 82 years of age; whilst the strong impression
left on his mind by certain localities, with all their graphic detail of
form and colour, enabled him to enjoy over again many of the simple
pleasures that made up his early life in the beautiful grounds of the
ancient castle in which he used to play.
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