He had
full beard and whiskers, which were also white. His eyes were blue and
his complexion rather pale. He habitually wore spectacles, and to us he
never looked quite natural without them. Towards the end of his life his
eyes were subject to inflammation, and the glasses were blue. His hands,
though large, were not clumsy, and were capable of very delicate
manipulation, as is shown by his skill in handling and preserving
insects and bird-skins, and also in sketching, where delicacy of touch
was essential. His handwriting is another example of this; it remained
clear and even to the end, in spite of the fact that he wrote all his
books, articles, and letters with his own hand until the last few years,
when he occasionally had assistance with his correspondence; but his
last two books, "Social Environment" and "The Revolt of Democracy,"
written when he was 90 years of age, were penned by himself, and the
MSS. are perfectly legible and regular.
He was very domestic, and loved his home. His interest extended to the
culinary art, and he was fond of telling us how certain things should be
cooked. This became quite a joke among us. He was very independent, and
it never seemed to occur to him to ask to have anything done for him if
he could do it himself--and he could do many things, such as sewing on
buttons and tapes and packing up parcels, with great neatness. When
unpacking parcels he never cut the string if it could be untied, and he
would fold it up before removing the paper, which in its turn was also
neatly folded.
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