LINNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON. xlv 



especially the former ; and the knowledge thus acquired was ap- 

 plied practically in his business with great success and pecuniary 

 advantage. 



In 1832 he retired from business with an ample fortune, and 

 sought, in change of scene and peaceful retirement, the restoration 

 of his somewhat overtaxed constitution. "With this object he se- 

 lected for his abode for some months the pleasant village of Mickle- 

 ham, where he soon experienced the benefit of the change, and 

 quickly regained his healtli and strength. His naturally active mind 

 impelled him irresistibly to active pursuits ; and in entomology he 

 found a new and agreeable excitement and occupation. His first 

 entomological studies led him to form a collection of Lepidoptera. 

 Norbury Park being in the immediate neighbourhood of his resid- 

 ence, he did not fail to avail himself of the facilities it afibrded for his 

 pursuit, in company with his friends Dr. Bowerbank and Mr. Hoyer. 

 His attention, however, was not long limited to the Lepidoptera ; 

 Coleoptera were soon sought after with equal assiduity, and shortly 

 entirely engrossed his attention. About 1837 Mr. Walton appears 

 to have commenced his iuvestigations of the family Curculionidce ; 

 and ia 1838 the first results appeared, in a paper entitled " Notes 

 on Sitones, Polydrosus, Phyllohius, and Apion." 



In the February Number of the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History ' for 1844, his first paper in that periodical on the same 

 family appeared, containiag a revision of the nomenclature of 

 the genus BhyncJiites ; and all Mr. "Walton's subsequent papers 

 on the Curculionidae were published in the same journal. They 

 continued to appear for several years, the last, entitled " Descrip- 

 tions of two new British Grenera belonging to the family Curcu- 

 lionidae," being published in 1852. Out of eighty-eight genera of 

 Rhynchophora found in this country, Mr. "Walton, in this valuable 

 series of papers, published a revision of twenty-three, accompanied 

 with many interesting and valuable observations. In 1856 he 

 presented a copy of his private list of synonyms to the British 

 Musevun for publication. 



In order to appreciate the value of Mr. Walton's labours on the 

 Curculionidae, it is only necessary to compare the state of our 

 knowledge of the genera and species as given in Stephens's * Manual 

 of British Coleoptera ' with the revised list. 



Those only who had the good fortune to be intimately acquainted 

 with Mr. Walton in his study, and also in the field, can appreciate the 

 enthusiastic ardour which he brought to bear upon the investigation 

 of the difilcult family he had selected for his study. From earliest 



