SOCIAL LTFE
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design of the head, body, and four limbs of a man dotted over with spots. A robe exists (see page 88-89 of the memoir) in which a sequence of seventyone years is thus recorded in symbols spirally arranged upon it; it was made by a certain Dacota Indian, called Lone Dog.
I adopted this method to illustrate the events of my own life during part of the time while my wife was still living, but they are too rude for publication. I therefore give recent specimens of these medallions drawn by my niece, which refer to two of the years after she had become my companion.
The picture of 19oo is a view on the Nile, and that of 1903 contains the insignia of the late Pope, in memory of a function in Rome at which we were present ; also a picture of the breeding-place of sea birds at the Farn Islands, Northumberland, which we visited. The legends round these medallions hardly require explanation, except that An. Photo. stands for Animal Photography. They are-l9oo, An. Photo., Venice, Greece, Boer War, Egypt. 1903, Rome, Ischia, Farn Isles, Peppard.
A main reason for giving so full a description of such trifling matters is that the Dacota method may be serviceable in more than one way. It suggests an excellent plan for competition in Art schools, where the choice of two or three characteristics of some particular year might be submitted to the students, and prizes given to those who designed the most appropriate medallions.
