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OCR Rendition - approximate
Lehrjahre and Wanderjahre 179 in the Classes and only want to avoid being posted which is a bore because the name is published in the newspapers as such and relations are generally ignorant of the nature and character of these examinations. I have prepared literally nothing but trusted to the light of nature which has been very useful so far, and I think I have already avoided a post'. If it had not been so, I should only have had to crane for any one of the later papers over night and that would have done perfectly. Henslow the botanical lecturer has been very good-natured to me about Saxe Weimar; he says he would have given me introductions, but he has never himself been abroad, but he advises me to ask at once if there be any resident botanist, to go to him and to state my case, and to ask him what are the valuable flowers in the neighbourhood, etc. He says there is a kind of freemasonry among naturalists, that it is very little trouble for a professor to open his herbarium and to spew a few leaves of it, and it may be of great service and therefore they never hesitate a moment about doing so. I shall certainly follow his advice. Goodbye, my dear Father and with many thanks for your kind letter, I remain Your affectionate son, Fxns. GALTON. The next letter finds Galton in London (June 10, 1843) preparing to' go to Dresden with his sister. He has seen " the farce of Fortunio at Drury Lane, which is certainly most absurd and contains more puns than it has hitherto fallen to my lot to listen to even from yourself [S. T. G.]." There are a few days of seeing friends-Partridge, Kays, Horners, and relations Hubert Galtons, Charles Barclays, Gurneys-and a new acquaintance, Denham Cookes, is made. " He has the funniest head I ever saw, is exceedingly agreeable, and at his ease ; nobody except his lawyer knows where he lives, under cover to whom all communications are addressed. His hair is yellowish red ; his face something like this [sketch of a face with bizygomatic much greater than minimum temporal breadth]. He told us a great deal." Then brother and sister are off via, Hamburg to Dresden. In Dresden they appeared to have stayed till August 16, but only one joint letter of Francis and 'Emma to " Father, Mother, Bessy and Delly " has survived. Emma writes : " We enjoy ourselves much, it is most kind of you allowing me this journey, I feel most obliged to you for it. Francis has been busy with his Doctors lately. He asked Dr Todd of London and his brother to tea ; Fras. makes a capital host, and we hang out tea, bread and butter and cherries. We leave on Thursday for Tetschen to stay till Saturday at Mr Noel's The Hallams and ourselves are prodigious friends. They leave on Monday." Henry ' Galton got a fourth class in the May Examination, 1843. 23 -2
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