Obituary. 389 



derived from it, the absence of all unworthy rivalry in his character, and 

 the affectionate esteem he was held in by those who were intimately asso- 

 ciated with him in his pursuits, were ample proofs of his excellence, and of 

 how serious a loss we have sustained in him as the friend and the naturalist. 

 One of his intimate friends *, to whom I applied for some information re- 

 specting his writings, says to me, — "I can scarcely trust myself to speak 

 of him in the terms that naturally present themselves upon the recollection 

 of all that was so good, so kind, and so talented in his character. I be- 

 lieve I never knew a man in whom was combined so much that was 

 admirable and endearing. His duties, as Secretary to the Zoological So- 

 ciety, were performed with such zeal, talent, and extensive information as 

 can never be forgotten by those who had the opportunity of watching his 

 labours and of acting with him. His published works are not, perhaps, 

 equivalent in importance to his deservedly high character as a naturalist. 

 His knowledge of zoological literature was, perhaps, more extensive than 

 that of any other person in this country." The only paper which Mr. 

 Bennett communicated to the Transactions of the Linncean Society was " A 

 Notice of a peculiar Property in a Species of Echinus," which forms a 

 nidus for itself by effecting a cavity in rocks off the coast of Clare, in 

 Ireland. His contributions to the Zoological Journal were numerous, and 

 nearly all the analyses of zoological works contained in it were made by 

 him. The Proceedings of the Zoological Society from their commencement, 

 and the first volume, and the first part of the second volume, of its Trans- 

 actions, were edited by him ; and he contributed a great number of scat- 

 tered notices, and many very valuable papers, to them. Of his separate 

 works, The Tower Menagerie appeared in 1829, and The Gardens and 

 Menagerie of the Zoological Society, in 1830 and 1831 ; and an edition of 

 White's Natural History of Selbourne, to which he added many interesting 

 notes and illustrations, was published soon after his death. These public- 

 ations, the zealous discharge of the duties of secretary, first of the Zoologi- 

 cal Club of the Linnaean Society, and afterwards of the Zoological Society, 

 with the more unobtrusive, but not less useful, services which he rendered 

 to zoology by the advice and assistance which he afforded to all its culti- 

 vators who asked them at his hands, were his chief contributions to natural 

 history. His intimate friends are fully aware how large a portion of his 

 time, and how much pains and labour, he bestowed to the furtherance of 

 the objects of others ; and there are few of the zoologists of this country 

 who would not bear testimony to the fact, that by means of the assistance 

 thus afforded, he contributed to facilitate the progress of zoology in Great 

 Britain, and to give it its proper direction. He died in his 40th year, and 

 has left behind him an enviable remembrance in the minds of many amongst 

 us whose scientific attainments and moral worth deservedly place them 

 high in our esteem. 



Mr. Edward Donovan, — author of various splendidly illustrated works 

 on the zoology of this, country, and on the Insects of India and New Holland. 

 He wrote the articles " Conchology" and "Entomology" in Rees's Cyclo- 

 pedia. His works perhaps exhibit more of the splendour of art than 

 of any enlarged views of science. He added some species to the previ- 

 ously existing knowledge of detailed zoology ; and it is painful to reflect 

 that one who had laboured so much in the cause of science should not 

 have escaped the penury that too often waits on age. 



John Latham, M.I)., F.R.S., S/-c, — one of the original members of this 

 Society, who for nearly half a century took the liveliest pleasure in its 

 prosperity and advancement. This venerable man devoted himself to his 

 favourite science of ornithology, with undiminished interest, to the close of 

 his long life, which was extended to his ninety-sixth year. His writings 



* Thos. Bell, Esq., F.R.S., F.L.S. 



