38 Ihe Irish Nahiralist. I^ebruary, 



Science and Art. During the three winter sessions in which 

 he taught in Belfast, lyisburn, Carrickfergus, etc., there was 

 quite a revival of the old scientific spirit which prevailed there 

 a century ago. Mr. Tate did not confine himself merely to the 

 work for which he was paid, but laboured with a steady quiet 

 enthusiasm in an examination of the flora, fauna, and geology 

 of the district. In 1863 he published his Flora Belfastie^isis^ 

 being an enumeration of the plants found within a radius of 

 fifteen miles from Belfast. This was the first local Flora pub- 

 lished in the North of Ireland. He also prepared a paper 

 describing the Irish Cretaceous rocks^ and figuring some of 

 the new species of fossils he found therein. He also explored 

 the Lias beds, of which hitherto we knew but little, and his 

 paper on this subject, communicated to the Belfast Naturalists' 

 Field Club, has remained until now as the standard of 

 reference. Another paper, in the Qtia?terly Journal oi th.^ 

 Geological Society, dealt with the Ammonites angulatus zone 

 of the Lower Lias. He also read a paper on the Middle Lias 

 of County Antrim. Of this obscure subject nothing more is 

 known up to the present time. After Mr. Tate's engagement 

 in the North of Ireland was ended he had an appointment as 

 assistant secretary to ^the Geological Society of London ; 

 from thence he went to Central America as mining surv^eyor 

 in Nicaragua. Here he did a good deal of work, paying con- 

 siderable attention to terrestrial mollusca, and published an 

 account of the shells met with. A good collection of plants 

 was also made, but unfortunately they were spoiled and 

 rendered useless by damp during the rainy season of that 

 country. Mr. Tate's stay in America was not long, and soon 

 after his return to London he took charge as organizer and 

 conductor of the Mining School for Workmen in Durham, 

 and in 1875 was appointed to the chair of natural science in 

 the University of Adelaide, South Australia. This professor- 

 ship he held until his decease. The wide field of research 

 which he saw before him in a region where much of it was 

 virgin ground for the naturalist, must have been an intense 

 stimulus to a man like Tate. Here he set to work in earnest, 

 and every year papers were produced dealing with some aspect, 

 either of the geology, botany, or conchology of the country. 

 I have a list of eighty-five of these papers communicated to 



