To James Romanes, Esq.
Madeira: 1892.
I suppose you will have seen in the newspapers, or have been told by Char.,[103] that Caius College has made me an Honorary Fellow.[104] This is a great pleasure to me, because I have always retained my first love for Cambridge, and yet of late years I have so severed my connection with it. These coals of fire have therefore a heat about them which is all the more gratifying.
To Professor Ewart.
This would be a wonderful place for natural history if I were well enough to knock about.
I get fishermen, however, to bring any marine animals which they know to be rare. There is one fish which I never heard of before, and which seems to me remarkable on account of its curious combinations of character, for in all respects it seems to be a large dog-fish, excepting its teeth, which are those of a shark.
To Professor Poulton.
New Hotel, Madeira: December 2, 1892.
My dear Poulton,—I have now read the correspondence in 'Nature.' It seems to me that —— is quite absurdly 'aggressive,' even supposing that he proves to be right. But I send this to ask you about the grasshopper letter in last week's 'Nature,' just received here. I have noticed the same thing in grasshoppers, but do not remember to have seen any account of the changes of colour, or mechanism thereof, in them. Do you know if it has ever been worked at? If not, I might do so here.
The same question applies to lizards. It seems to me that those here vary their colours to suit those of habitual stations. I remember Eimer read a paper about the lizards in Capri, but forget details. He often alludes to it in his book translated by Cunningham. What are his main results?