"Dr. Wallace then went on to explain the names and uses of the four
stomachs.
"Two instances of his fun come to my mind as I write. 'Why,' I asked,
'do you sometimes take off your spectacles to read the paper?' 'Because
I can see better without 'em,' he said. 'Then why,' I asked again, 'do
you ever wear them?' 'Because I can see better with 'em,' was the reply.
The other instance relates to chloroform. He was describing the agonies
suffered by those who had to undergo amputation before the discovery of
anaesthetics, whereas nowadays, he said, 'you are put under chloroform,
then wake up and find your arm cut off, having felt nothing. Or you wake
up and find your leg cut off. Or you wake up and find your head cut
off!' He then laughed heartily at his own joke.
"These are just a few miscellaneous reminiscences, many of them no doubt
trivial, but they may perhaps be not entirely devoid of interest, when
it is remembered that they are the impressions and recollections of one
who was then a boy of eight years old."--B.B.K.
* * * * *
The year 1908 was very auspicious to Dr. Wallace. To begin with, it was
the fiftieth anniversary of the reading of the Darwin and Wallace joint
papers on the Origin of Species before the Linnean Society, an event
which was commemorated in the way described elsewhere.
In the autumn, and just as he was beginning to recover from a spell of
bad health, he was invited to give a lecture at the Royal Institution,
the prospect of which seemed to have upon him a most stimulating effect;
he at once began to think about a suitable subject.
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