242 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [May, 'lO 



he regretted just as keenly as any of his opponents and critics 

 the necessity of doing away with many a name hallowed, as it 

 were, by long usage. 



Kirkaldy had all the vivacity and ardor of the Celt, which 

 may at times have led him to accept perhaps too quickly and 

 maintain too enthusiastically views which a more mature judg- 

 ment showed to he untenable. Joined to this was a relentless 

 Scotch logical temperament, which drove him inexorably and 

 unswervingly to conclusions which at times were opposed to his 

 natural inclination, yet which his passion for truth compelled 

 him to accept and battle for. Above all things he hated sham ; 

 he loathed that spirit of pompous and self-sufficient importance 

 which curses some small men. A constant and tireless worker, 

 a minute, patient, resourceful student, he ever looked singly 

 to the advancement of the knowledge of the Heteroptera, that 

 group so sadly and shamefully neglected in comparison with 

 other orders. In that bright galaxy where shine the illustrious 

 names of Fabricius, Burmeister, Dufour, Amyot, Fieber, 

 Stal, and in our days, most happily still with us, of Renter, 

 Horvnth, Montadon, Bergroth, his is not the dimmest, and 

 had Azrael held his hand, he had shone among the most 

 brilliant. 



As for me, I have lost a dear friend, an inspiration and a 

 lode star ; one who encouraged me when I was faint ; who help- 

 ed me when I fell ; to whose constant words of cheer I owe 

 what little success I may have achieved. Our minds moved in 

 harmonious accord ; our gifts were complementary to each 

 other, and in so far as one so insignificant might. I helped un- 

 friend in my small way, a feeble return for his many kind- 

 nesses. 



Better than any, perhaps, I can gauge the loss to science by 

 his untimely death. His worked planned, outlined in many a 

 letter, carried out with his enthusiasm, his thoroughness, his 

 energy. \v;is destined to place him on the same lofty, still 

 eminence where sits Slal alone, beyond the reach of the 

 petty bickerings and disputes of the pseudo-great. 



"And so the grim reaper reapeth among the flowers." 



J. R. TORRE DE LA BUENO. 



