160 fJu'T, 



operations of an unusually active mind and a thoughtfully generous disposition. 

 " Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere." 



A man of such wide interests and so sympathetic a naturt was bound to 

 make hosts of attached friends, by whom his death is felt as a grievous 

 personal loss. " Exstinctus amahitur ide7)i." — F. A. D. 



I 



Although Dr. G. B. Longstaff's name was well known to me as that of ;in 

 Oxford man distinguished for his public service, an authority on statist' cs, and 

 a generous benefactor inspired by far-reaching sympathies, our friendship only 

 began in 190i, after his i-eturn fi"om his travels in the East. From that time 

 we met continually, both in Oxford and London, and be was always planning ^ 



to help the Hope Department in many ways. He realised at once, what is 

 often forgotten by those who give to museums, that the captures he was ^ 



sending in thousands meant labour and time, and that the Department, like 

 most, I might say all, museums, was understaffed. So, after giving immediate 

 help to meet the extra strain, he made it possible in 1895 for the Department 

 to employ an additional assistant, contributing the salary each year until 1909, 

 when, by an endowment of £2400, he assured its permanence. The trust deed 

 is a model one in its simplicity and in the care to ensure that, whatever may 

 happen in the future, the income of the fund will always be of the highest 

 utility to the Hope Department. Then he would often buy books for the 

 library and would send lists of works in his pos.session in order that the 

 Department might select what it needed. In 1910 his help made it possible to 

 acquire the fine collection of British lihijnchota made by the late Edward 

 fcSaunders, F.R.S. 



But George Longstaff did far more thau this for the University Collections 

 at Oxford. What I have spoken of above — as also his generous gift of £'1000 

 to the Entomological Society shortly before his death — could have been done by 

 any rich man, although too few in this country are inspired to use their wealth 

 for such ends. Longstaff gave also the personal service of an able and intensely 

 active mind. In planning his travels he would consider the needs of the collec- 

 tions. Then, before setting out on his second journey in 1905, he devised a special 

 form of note-book, strongly bound with leather back and corners, ruled for date 

 and locality and notes. Eleven of these exist in the Department, and, from 

 their data, each specimen has been labelled with all essential facts, and also by 

 a reference number can be compared with the original record. It it pathetic to 

 look at the last entries, made with difficulty and failing sight, about a year 

 before his death. Then, when he returned home he would work out his 

 collections, continually visiting the British Museum for the purpose, and would 

 come to Oxford for their incorporation. In 1907 and 1908, realizing how 

 greatly we were handicapped by the want of an up-to-date catalogue of 

 Satyrinae and Hesperidae, he set to work and made a complete list of all the 

 species of both groups in the British Museum. His manuscript list of 

 Hesperidae contains 2244 species. Indexed by the late Robert Shelford, and 

 bound, it has been of the greatest value. It is in constant use. 



Although our friendship sprang from scientific interests in common, one 

 could not come into contact with George Longstaff without feeling the 

 stimulus of an intensely active, energetic, sj^mpathetic nature. There was his 



