Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
349
The Journal of a Disappointed Man
·
W. N. P. Barbellion
239
So
that
as
an
ancient
writer
puts
it,
"you
must
own
that
for
the
quelling
of
human
pride
and
to
pull
down
the
high
conceits
of
mortal
man,
this
most
loathesome
of
all
maladies
(Pediculosis)
has
been
the
inheritance
of
the
rich,
the
wise,
the
noble
and
the
mighty--poets,
philosophers,
prelates,
princes,
Kings
and
Emperors."
In
his
well-known
Bridgewater
Treatise,
the
Rev.
Dr.
Kirby,
the
Father
of
English
Entomology,
asked:
"Can
we
believe
that
man
in
his
pristine
state
of
glory
and
beauty
and
dignity
could
be
the
receptacle
of
prey
so
loathesome
as
these
unclean
and
disgusting
creatures?"
(Vol.
I.,
p.
13).
He
therefore
dated
their
creation
after
the
Fall.
The
other
day
a
member
of
the
staff
of
the
Lister
Institute
called
to
see
me
on
a
lousy
matter,
and
presently
drew
some
live
Lice
from
his
waistcoat
pocket
for
me
to
see.
They
were
contained
in
pill
boxes
with
little
bits
of
muslin
stretched
across
the
open
end
thro'
which
the
Lice
could
thrust
their
little
hypodermic
needles
when
placed
near
the
skin.
He
feeds
them
by
putting
these
boxes
into
a
specially
constructed
belt
and
at
night
ties
the
belt
around
his
waist
and
all
night
sleeps
in
Elysium.
He
is
not
married.
In
this
fashion,
he
has
bred
hundreds
from
the
egg
upwards
and
even
hybridised
the
two
different
species!
In
the
enfranchised
mind
of
the
scientific
naturalist,
the
usual
feelings
of
repugnance
simply
do
not
exist.
Curiosity
conquers
prejudice.
August
27.
Am
spending
my
summer
holidays
in
the
Lakes
at
Coniston
with
G----
and
R----....
I
am
simply
consumed
with
pride
at
being
among
the
mountains
at
last!
It
is
an
enormous
personal
success
to
have
arrived
at
Coniston!
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
