LIXNEAN SOCIETY OF LONDON, 



59 



Henry Dresser being sent to school near London, whence in 1852 

 he proceeded to a German school near Hamburg, and two years 

 later to Gefle and Upsala to learn Swedish ; it being considered 

 that In's acquirement of German and Swedish would be of great 

 service to him in the prosecution of liis father's business. 



In 1856 he went to St. Petersburg, and thence to Finland, 

 where he entered the office of a timber merchant. lu 1857 he 

 travelletl through Finland on business, then through Sweden, and 

 in 1858 all round the Baltic. In 1859 he went to New Bruns- 

 wick as temporary assistant manager on a timber estate, 

 returning in the latter part of 1800. In the two following 

 years he travelled in Sweden, Finland, Russia, and Prussia, and 

 in ]S62 again went out to New Brunswick as manager of the 

 timber estate for a year. Early in 1803 he took a cargo 

 out to the Confederate States, remaining there for eighteen 

 months. 



From 1864 to 1870, when he engaged in the iron trade with 

 oflices in London at 110 Cannon-street, he travelled abroad every 

 year, and visited Spain twice, Russia three times, Turkey, Austria, 

 Italy, Servia, Bulgaria, and Eoumania. 



These exteusi\e wanderings, combined with a knowledge of 

 several languages, proved of immense service to him in the 

 ])rosecution of ornithology. It enabled him to visit the principal 

 museums of tlie Continent, and to make the personal acquaintance 

 of many of the leading naturalists of Europe, with whom he was 

 thus brought into direct communication, and also to become 

 familiar with the foreign literature of his subject, and to translate 

 for the benefit of English readers important articles that would 

 otherwise have been unknown to them. 



One of the earliest of these translations was an article in 

 (Swedish by Professor W. Meves, of Stockholm, " On the Change 

 of Colour in Birds, through and irrespective of moulting." This 

 was publivshed with two coloured plates in 'The Zoologist' for 

 INJarch 187U. 



In after years he supplied other useful trausl.-ilions of articles 

 by Russian naturalists and explorers on ornithological discoveries 

 of interest. This acquaintance with Continental literature and 

 correspondence with leading writers on the subject, provided him 

 with a mass of information of the greatest service to him in 

 the preparation of his general work on the ' Birds of Europe.' 

 It was planned in collaboration with the late Dr. E. B. Sharpe, 

 and the first part was issued in their joint names in 1871. But 

 soon afterwards, when Sharpe was appointed zoological assistant 

 at the British Museum, his official duties prevented a con- 

 tinuation of his share in the work, which was then carried on by 

 Dresser alone until its completion in 1881. It was a great 

 undertaking, and a very costly one ; the printing of eight thick 

 quarto volumes and upwards (;f CiOO hand-coloured plates necessi- 

 tated an expenditure of several thousand pounds. But the result 

 justified the cost, and Mr. Dresser not only lived to complete the 



