The compliment was followed by others, till at last
certain ladies, with the pliancy of their sex, find out they had always
secretly cared for butterflies. Then the naturalist smelt a rat, or, in
other words, began to scent that entomology, a form of idiocy in a poor
man, is a graceful decoration of the intellect in a rich one.
Philosopher without bile, he saw through this, and let it amuse, not
shock him. His own species, a singularly interesting one in my opinion,
had another trait in reserve for him.
He took a world of trouble to find out the circumstances of his nephew's
nephews and nieces: then he made arrangements for distributing a large
part of his legacy among them. His intentions and the proportions of his
generosity transpired.
Hitherto they had been silent, but now they all fell-to and abused him:
each looking only to the amount of his individual share, not at the sum
total the doctor was giving way to an ungrateful lot.
The donor was greatly amused, and noted down the incident and some
of the remarks in his commonplace book, under the general head of
"Bestiarium;" and the particular head of "Homo.
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