LINNBAN SOCIETY OP LONDON. 4 1 



our Society in 1896. Those who had the pleasure of meeting him 

 from time to time at the Linnean Club iu the latter pai't of his 

 life will remember his dignified presence and amiable manners. 

 On one of these occasions, conversation having turned to the ever 

 fertile subject of affection between man and other animals, he told 

 an experience of his own. Recollection of what he then said has 

 been kindly confirmed by Lady Low, who writes as follows: — 

 " The pet animal in question was one of the Gibbon Monkeys. 

 It never left my husband, sat by his pillow, travelled with him on 

 his elephant with its arms round his neck, sat by him while he 

 worked in his office. He had cured the little beast of a bad 

 wound early in their acquaintance, and this may have helped to 

 deepen its devotion to him. But he had a quite extraordinary 

 power of attracting and keeping the devotion of all weaker 

 creatures. His strength and his tenderness were alike so great." 

 In its last illness " the little monkey in question had to be put 

 out of my husband's bed and to have a little warm bed made for 

 it beside him on the verandah. It raised itself up at the last and 

 died with its chin leaning on the ledge that separated it from its 

 master and its eyes fixed on him." This Avas exactly the story 

 told by Sir Hugh Low himself, except that he said nothing about 

 the curing of the wound, and implied by his tone that all credit 

 for the friendship was due to the monkey and none to the man. 

 In his intercourse with his fellow human beings, civilized or un- 

 civihzed, he appears to have uniformly acted in a lofty spirit of 

 unselfishness. While never missing an opportunity for furthering 

 the interests of science, he sought no personal recognition. He 

 suppressed his own ardent longing for scientific pursuits, because 

 love of his neighbour demanded from him work of a more immedi- 

 ately practical character. His widow writes : — " He never sought 

 nor cared for rev\ard or praise. The love and veneration which 

 surrounded him in his closing years were to him always a matter 

 of unfeigned surprise and of a gentle pleasure for my sake who 

 had the privilege for twenty years of sharing his life and fortunes." 

 Permission has been obtained for confirming the testimonies of 

 domestic affection and pri\ate friendship by the publication of the 

 following official letter addressed to Lady Low from Downing 

 Street, April 27, 1905 :— 



" Madam, I am directed by jNIr. Secretary Lyttelton to express 

 the regret with which he has learned of the death of your husband, 

 Sir Hugh Low, and to convey to you his sympathy with you in 

 your bereavement. 



" Sir Hugh Low for forty years rendered exceptional service to 

 the British Government in Labuan and in the Malay Peninsula. 

 Taking up the appointment of Resident of Perak at a time of 

 peculiar difficulty, he laid the foundation and in large measure 

 reared the structure of the present prosperity of the Federated 

 Malay States. 



" He won the confidence of the Native Races placed under his 



