62 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



difficulties wliicli beset those who, in liis early days at Cambridge, 

 were possessed by an insatiable thirst for knowledge in regard to 

 all that pertained to Natural History, we shall never know. In 

 his day there were no organized Science Schools, and Biology 

 found no part in the teaching scheme of the University. Hence, 

 like Darwin and others ot: his day who in after life attained to 

 fame as zoologists, he had to satisfy his cravings as best he might. 

 But it Avas to tliese limitations, probablv, that Systematic Zoology 

 and the Gi-eographical Distribution of Animals alone occupied his 

 l)ost-graduate life. To these he made splendid contributions. 

 He, indeed, was the founder of the science of Zoo-Geography ; 

 and if he had done no more than this, he would have earned his 

 niche in the Temple of Eame. 



Among ornithologists his name was revered, and his con- 

 tributions to science loom largest in the enormous output of 

 ornithological memoirs which stand to-day to his credit. Ti>e 

 bulk of these were purely systematic in scope, but he wrote 

 one or two small papers on the wings of birds and devised a 

 scheme of Classification. The latter, however, from his lack of 

 anatomical knowledge, added nothing to his fame. 



His activities were, however, by no means confined to birds, 

 for he possessed an encyclopaedic knowledge of mammals from 

 the systematist's point of view. Bub Sclater's influence on the 

 zoological world was by no means limited to his published writings. 

 His personal influence was enormous, subtle, and far-reaching. 

 It made itself felt in no uncertain way in the affairs of the 

 Zoological Society of London ; for he controlled its destinies 

 for forty-three years, and made it famous throughout the world. 



These concrete fruits of a long and useful life are matters 

 of common knowledge; they are historical facts, which those who 

 Avill may estimate according to their own conceptions of merit.- 

 But no measure can be applied to his influence on the men of his 

 time, and especially the younger men. He was a keen judge 

 of character, and zealous in his efforts to win recruits for his 

 beloved science. None who appealed to him for help or advice 

 ever turned away empty. But he did not always wait to be 

 asked : whenever he met with promising youngsters, be was 

 certain to offer his aid to promote their welfare. JN^auy men who 

 have attained to eminence owe much to him. 



That he was held in high regard by the men of his time 

 is shown, in the first place, by the fact that Darwin, Owen, and 

 Huxley were among his closest friends, and, in the second, by his 

 success in promoting expeditions to unknown lands charged with 

 the task of exploring their fauna and flora. 



His work for Societies other than his own was considerable. 

 Eor many years he edited ' The Ibis,' the Journal of the British 

 Ornithologists' Union, and the ' Journal of the Ornithologists' 

 Club.' Of the latter he was Chairman from its inception in 1392 

 till his death. For many years he acted as Secretary to Section D 

 of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, aud in 

 1875, at the Bristol meeting, was its President. That occasion 



