Memoir of Mr. Joseph Spar shall. 559 



Biographical Notice of the late Mr. Joseph Spar shall, from a Correspondent. 

 — Among the various duties which we are called upon to perform, that of 

 writing a memento mori is of a nature differing from all the rest ; uniting, as 

 it does, at the same time, melancholy and pleasing sensations. For, while 

 it is with sorrow we record the event which has deprived us of a friend, it 

 is with satisfaction and pride we register the worth and talents of the de- 

 parted, for the information and example of those treading the same path, 

 and hand down the name to posterity, as one link in that chain by which 

 any peculiar science has been benefited or enlarged. Of late years, death 

 has made sad inroads among the ranks of our native naturalists ; and we 

 find them following each other with rapid strides towards " that bourne from 

 whence no traveller returns," but where we may fondly anticipate, and with- 

 out presumption, they are still employed in praising and beholding the 

 majesty of that Being whose wisdom and beneficence toward the most 

 minute objects of his care they had so long been accustomed to contemplate 

 with delight in this their sublunary abode : for, as the venerable Kirby ex- 

 presses himself, " The book of Nature, to whatever page we turn, is written 

 by the finger of Him who created us ; and in it, provided our minds be rightly 

 disposed, we may read His eternal verities ; and the more accurate and 

 enlarged our knowledge of His works, the better shall we be able to under- 

 stand His word ; and the more practised we are in His word, the more 

 readily shall we discern his truth in His works : for, proceeding from the 

 same great Author, they must, when rightly interpreted, mutually ex- 

 plain and illustrate each other." The sphere of our knowledge, therefore, 

 of the natural productions surrounding us may be extended and improved 

 by two means, — literary labour and practical exertions ; for, while one may 

 be employed in describing and illustrating new-discovered animals, plants, 

 &c, another will be gathering together, with not less toil, the materials for 

 such dissertations : thus each is mutually assisting to extend the bound- 

 aries or natural science. To the latter class belonged the subject of this 

 memoir. Joseph Sparshall, Esq., F.L.S., who died, after a few days' illness, 

 on the 15th of April, 1837, at his residence in Norwich, in the 45th year 

 of his age. The name of Mr. Sparshall has long been connected with the 

 natural history of the county of Norfolk, and more especially of his native 

 city. Though entomology was his principal fort, ornithology, and the general 

 zoology of the district, claimed no small share of his attention. At an earlyage 

 he exhibited a fondness for collecting and observing the habits of the lower 

 classes of animals, which increased with his maturer years. Being destined 

 for the medical profession (which, however, he never practised), his studies 

 gave him many opportunities for adding to his previous stores of informa- 

 tion ; and, while a pupil at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, he captured, 

 in that institution, on the 22dof July, 1809, a specimen (perhaps the only 

 authentic British example) of the Odonestis pini, which is now in the British 

 Museum. About this time, he became acquainted with other kindred spirits, 

 well known in the neighbourhood, as well as to the scientific world at large ; 

 among whom were Joseph Hooker (brother to Sir W.J. Hooker), Howard 

 Sims, Richard Griffin, Rev. J. Burrell, A. H. Haworth, Sir J. E. Smith, 

 S. Wilkin, Rev. W. Kirby , s Rev. J. Skrimshire, J. Curtis, J. Scales, Dawson 

 Turner, Dr. Leach, J. C. Dale, J. F. Stephens, Lily Wigg, A. M'Leay, &c, 

 with all of whom he kept up a friendly intercourse. Though many of the 

 above have since passed, like himself, from this world ; many of the re- 

 mainder will remember with feelings of pleasure the entomological excur- 

 sions on which they have accompanied him to Horning Ferry, Woodbast wick, 

 a favourite resort of his, to which he invariably drove his friends, and 

 one the finest places for entomology in the county of Norfolk ; though his 

 fondness for the study led him to visit every part of the kingdom celebrated 

 for the capture of rare insects; such as the New Forest, Isle of Wight, Ep- 



