"He had a strongly humorous side, and always enjoyed a good laugh. As an instance of this, I will recount the following incident: When I had returned home after my first visit to 'The Old Orchard,' my sister, three years older than myself, and I had a heated argument on the subject of the number of stomachs in a cow. I insisted it was three; she, on the other hand, held that it was seven. After a long and fierce dispute, I exclaimed: 'Well, let us write to Dr. Wallace, and he will settle it for us and tell us the real number.' This we did, the brazen audacity of the proceeding not striking us at the time. By return of post we received a letter which, alas! I have unfortunately not preserved, but the substance of which I well remember. 'Dear Irene and Reggie,' it ran, 'Your dispute as to the number of stomachs which a cow possesses can be settled and rectified by a simple mathematical process usually called subtraction, thus: Irene's Cow 7 stomachs Reggie's Cow 3 stomachs ---------- The Farmer's cow 4 stomachs. "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. Following closely on this came the news that the Order of Merit was to be conferred upon him. His letters to his son give the details of this eventful period:[45] * * * * * TO MR. W.G. WALLACE _Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. October_ 28, 1908.