238 Obituaries. 



by young men, the Quekett Microscopical Club first sprang: at 

 any rate the first or preliminary meeting took place in the Piccadilly 

 House. Of the Quekett Mr. Barratt was an original member, but 

 on leaving for Australia lie resigned his membership and did not 

 rejoin till 1885. 



As far as can be ascertained, Mr. Barratt never made any com- 

 munication to the Eoyal Microscopical, the Quekett, or other 

 Society. Though his interest in microscopical work was great, it 

 was almost entirely limited to the optical side. His acquaintance 

 with the Microscope dated from 1856, when he was presented with 

 a cheap German model as a school prize ; his microscopical equip- 

 ment, however, eventually amounted to about a dozen Microscopes 

 and fifty objectives, among the former being one made by Powell 

 and Lealand for Dr. Dallinger. This, which had agate bearings, 

 was his favourite instrument. The objects . of his research were 

 chiefly Diatoms, of which he possessed a large collection (over 

 4000 slides). 



In the Art world he was well known. He began collecting 

 Morland prints when about 25 to 30 years of age. At that time 

 the prints fetched £10 apiece : nowadays they are worth ten times 

 that amount. He left a fine collection of these Morland prints, of 

 paintings of the Norwich School, of blue china, sculpture, antique 

 silver, and numerous examples of the art of Kaeburn, Morland, 

 Constable, Old Crome, Burgess, Lawrence, John Gilbert, Bochard, 

 and others. 



John Davies Siddall. 

 1844-1911. 



J. D. Siddall is appreciatively described by a great friend as 

 " a self-made man who had an innate talent for acquiring know- 

 ledge, and a special aptitude for distributing it." For many years 

 he gave with great success lectures on Botany, and was associated 

 with Mr. H. B. Brady in working out the ' Challenger ' collection 

 of Foraminifera. He wrote a paper on the Foraminifera of the 

 Dee, the specimens being collected from the ripple marks in the 

 sand, caused by the receding tide. The days when living specimens 

 were found in these forays he used to mark as red-letter days. 



Mr. Siddall was for several years President of the Chester 

 Society of Natural Sciences ; for a long time he was a member of 

 the Town Council, and also auditor for the city. To this Society 

 he was best known by the paper he read in April 1912, "Notes 

 on the Life-history of some Marine Diatoms," and by the specimens 

 he showed on the same occasion of Coseinodiseus heliozoides. 



