Charles Darwin reports a squirrel surprise

You have full access to this article via your institution. 100 Years Ago Drawing: its History and Uses. By W. A. S. Benson — The author of this little book, who died in 1924 in his seventieth year, was a lifelong exponent of artistic expression in various forms rather than an artist in any conventional sense. His association with William Morris gave a bias in his attitude towards art which finds expression in the opening sentences of his book, in which he lays it down that the variety of purposes for which drawing serves in education and in life is not too well understood; it is not merely a gymnastic exercise or an introduction to the fine art of painting, but a mode of expression, an alternative to speech from which all forms of written language have arisen. In support of his view he traces the growth of graphic art from its earliest beginnings in the palaeolithic cave, through the conventional decorative art of the neolithic period, and analogous stages of culture, in which motif is dependent directly or indirectly on the technique demanded by material, and through the artistic formula which gave rise to the art of writing, to the modern picture in its frame, and its relation to interior decoration. The treatment of the subject is stimulating, and it may be hoped will bring home to a wider public the significance of early forms of art less well known than that of palaeolithic man. From Nature 15 May 1926 150 Years Ago In the last number of Nature … Mr. …