"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 anæsthetics, 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 [pg 127] 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:[46]
TO MR. W.G. WALLACE
Old Orchard, Broadstone, Wimborne. October 28, 1908.
My dear Will,— ... I have a rather surprising bit of news for you. When I was almost at my worst, feeling very bad, I had a letter inviting me to give an evening lecture at the Royal Institution, for their Jubilee of the "Origin of Species"! Of course I decided at once to decline as impossible, etc., having nothing new to say, etc. But a few hours afterwards an idea suddenly came to me for a very fine lecture, if I can work it out as I hope—and the more I thought over it the better it seemed. So, two days back, I wrote to Sir W. Crookes—the Honorary Secretary, who had written to me—accepting provisionally!... Here is another "crowning honour"—the most unexpected of all!... [pg 128]