On 8th June 1870 he owned to being very ill. He became incoherent, and being advised to lie down, he said indistinctly, “Yes, on the ground,” and these were his last words. In the evening of 9th June, he shuddered, gave one sigh, a tear rolled down his face, and he died.
Dickens had wished to be buried in the little churchyard of Shorne in Kent; but the authorities of Rochester Cathedral asked that he might be buried there. Finally, Dean Stanley intervened and he was buried on 14th June in Westminster Abbey. His daughter says that every year on the ninth of June flowers are strewn by “unknown hands on that spot so sacred to us, and to all who knew and loved him.”
A PROCESSION OF FLOWERS [231a]
The following pages give the results of observations on the dates at which the commoner plants flowered at Brookthorpe, near Gloucester, as well as the dates of a few other facts, such as the days in which the songs of birds were first heard.
My observations began in April 1917, originating in the obvious lateness of some of the vegetation. The record extends from 1st April to 21st August, and contains only 160 observations, whereas in Blomefield’s Naturalist’s Calendar, [231b] with which I have compared them, the number of recorded facts is much greater. I may express my indebtedness to the minutely accurate work of this author; I only wish that my small contribution to his subject were more worthy of my guide.
What interest my observations may possess depends on the fact that the spring of 1917 was exceptionally cold. For this statement I rely on the weekly Weather Report of the Meteorological Office, in which for each week of the year the deviation from the normal temperature is given for a large number
of stations in the British Islands. [232] I have taken as a standard the temperature at Clifton, which seems to be the station nearest to Gloucester.
Now, though the temperature has undoubtedly a great effect on the time of flowering, it is by no means the only element in the problem. The first plant on my list is Ranunculus ficaria, which I noted as flowering on 1st April, whereas in Blomefield the mean of seventeen yearly observations is 28th February, the earliest date for this plant being 21st January, the latest 28th March. The extreme lateness of the Celandine was doubtless due to the cold spring of 1917. But what are the elements of the problem which fixed on this plant the general habit of flowering early in the year?
In some cases we can see the advantages in early flowering. Thus the average date on which the Hazel comes into bloom is 26th January, and this, for a plant of which the pollen is distributed by the wind, may be an advantage, since there are no leaves to obstruct the dispersal of the pollen grains.
It may be answered that those Conifers which do not shed their leaves in winter, e.g. the Yew or the Scotch Fir, are nevertheless wind-fertilised. But this, though a point not to be forgotten, is no argument against what has been said of the Hazel.