Note 30 — CANTO I. OURSELF!
Reading edition
We took like macaroni snuff.
Dr Darwin alludes to this wonderful performance in the following superb lines:
“Led by the sage, lo! Britain’s sons shall guide Huge SEA-BALLOONS beneath the tossing tide; The diving castles roof’d with spheric glass, Ribb’d with strong oak, and barr’d with bolts of brass, Buoy’d with pure air shall endless tracts pursue, And Priestley’s hand the vital flood renew.” Botanic Garden, Canto iv.