The Journal of a Disappointed Man

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!