This is new to me, though maybe not to many of you. It's from the New York
Times of 1/8/1908:

Darwin and Alice in the "Looking Glass."

Col Higginson in The Atlantic Monthly.

  I remember that at my first visit, in 1872, I was telling him of an
address before the Philological Society by Dr. Andrew J. Ellis, in which he
had quoted from Alice in the "Looking Glass" the description of what were
called portmanteau words, into which various meanings were crammed. As I
spoke, Mrs. Darwin glided quietly away, got the book, and looked up the
passage. "Read it out, my dear," said her husband, as as she read the
amusing page he laid his head back and laughed heartily.

  Here was the man who had revolutionized the science of the world giving
himself wholly to the enjoyment of Alice and her pretty nonsense. Akin to
this was his hearty enjoyment of Mark Twain, who then had hardly begun to
be regarded as above the Josh Billings grade of humorist, but Darwin was
amazed that I had not read "The Jumping Frog," and said that he always kept
it by his bedside for midnight amusement.
*_________________________________*

*Peter Salwen /* salwen.com
*114 W 86, NYC 10024 | 917-620-5371*