BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THOMAS EDWARD. 607 



ral history, illustrated by specimens of birds and other objects. They 

 were to be given first in Banff, and then in other places. Edward 

 got his illustrations ready, and the project looked feasible. There 

 existed in the town of Banff an institution which had been formed, 

 among other purposes, "for the discovery and encouragement of na- 

 tive genius and talent." What could be more promising ? Mr. Boyd 

 believed that they would heartily cooperate in the lectures, because 

 it would be in accordance with the avowed purpose of the institution. 

 Several members were applied to, to give their assistance, but they 

 politely declined, and the scheme fell through. Shortly afterward 

 Mr. Boyd died, and Edward was deprived of another efficient friend. 

 " Another of my best friends is gone," exclaimed he. " Cruel Death ! 

 if thy hand continues to strip me thus, thou wilt soon, very soon, 

 leave me desolate ; and then who will take notice of the poor natu- 

 ralist ? " 



At last, his health gave way altogether, and he had a long attack 

 of rheumatic fever ; and again his collections had to be sold, to'pro- 

 tect the family from want. He now lost all hope of ever being able 

 to replenish them. He had to abandon his night-wanderings, but he 

 turned to the natural history of the sea-shore. Here he had a new 

 field, and worked with great success. He discovered many new species 

 of marine creatures, and greatly extended the knowledge of the habits 

 and history of those already known. His daughters gave him very 

 valuable assistance in many ways, especially in searching the fish- 

 markets along the shore. Mr. Edward was, moreover, now beginning 

 to be better known to naturalists, who sought his correspondence and 

 his aid, and among these were Spence Bate, Westwood, Couch, and 

 Gwin Jeffreys. Bate tried to get a place for him in a scientific insti- 

 tution, at thirty shillings per week, but it turned out to be a fourth 

 portership at one pound per week, and could not be got even at that. 

 Edward's hoi)es Avere once more blighted, and nothing remained for 

 him but the cobbler's stool. He tried photography as a means of 

 living, but was not able to provide a glass-window department, and 

 failed in that also. The fact is, he was simply a born naturalist, made 

 for the discovery of the things of Nature, and, if his Christian country 

 had been half civilized, he would have been kept at that priceless 

 work for which so few men are gifted by rare original endowments. 



We can hardly refer to, much less enumerate, the achievements 

 of Edward in many departments of observation, which are described 

 with great felicity by Mr. Smiles. At the close of his volume he gives 

 selections from the mammals, birds, fishes, and Crustacea, with which 

 this man enriched the fauna of Banffshire ; but while the list comprises 

 many hundred, in a long appendix, the author states that, if all were 

 given, they would fill a volume. Among the crustaceans alone, of 

 two hundred and ninety-four, found in the Moray Firth, not fewer 

 than twenty-six new species were added by Edward himself. 



