2tS The Imh Natvralisi. December. 



OBITUARY. 



MARY ISABELLA LEEBODY. 



Tho death of Mrs. Leebody on SeptemluT lytli, lollowiui; on that of 

 S. A. Stewart, deprives the North of Ireland of another of its veteran 

 botanists. For a long period of years Mrs. Leebody has taken advantage 

 of every opportunity that offered to imjircvc! our knowledge of the flora, 

 espcciallv of Derry and Donegal, the counties which lay around her liomc 

 in Londonderry ; and by her encouragement of others she also furthered 

 her favourite study. Her finding of Spifnittlies Romanzoviana at Kilrea 

 was the first indication that that rare ore hid had a wider extension of 

 range in Ulster than was shown by its first discovery in Armagh ; and 

 the finding of several rare plants in Donegal — Glyccria aquatica near 

 liallyshannon. Dryas octopetala on Muckish, Stachys Betonica at Portsalon, 

 Malaxis paludosa on Slieve Snaght, were due to her work or to the interest 

 in botany' which she inspired in others. I-'urther from home, she added 

 Tecsdalia nudicaulis to the native Irish flora by iier discovery of its Lough 

 Neagh station. Mrs. Leebody took a keen interest in tlie work of the 

 Belfast Field Club, and seldom missed such club excursions as were held 

 to ]ilaces within reach of Londonderry. 



R. Li. p. 



RICHARD PRENDERGAST VOWELL. 



I^. P. Vowel! was one of the little i)and of botanists whom the 

 enthusiasm of A. G. More inspired to undertake the systematic investiga- 

 tion of the Irish flora, in connection with the preparation of a second 

 edition of " Cybele Hibernica." The " eighties " of tlie last century 

 were a heroic period in the history of the botany of Ireland. H. C. Hart, 

 R. M. Harrington, R. P. Vowell, R. W. Scully. T. H. Corry. and S. A. 

 Stewart — it is sad to think how few of them are alive now — were all at 

 work, and hardly an important mountain, lake;. ri\-(.-r, or ]iromising stretch 

 of sea-shore escaped their attention. Yowell's share in this extensive 

 survey lay in his joining R. M. Barrington in the exploration of two 

 interesting and then little-known areas — the cliff -walled hills of the Ben 

 Bulbcn range, and the limestone shores of Lough Ree ; and the reports 

 on these two areas, published by the Royal Irish Academy in 1885 and 

 1888 respectively, still remain the main source of information on the 

 remarkable flora of those places. Though he did not publish subsequently 

 any other contributions to our knowledge of Irish botany, Mr. Vowell 

 retained his keen interest in the subject. His untimely death on October 

 30, after a brief illness, will be regretted by a large circle of friends, and 

 by his fellow-botanists throughout Ireland. 



K. Ll. p. 



