SOME IRISH BOTANISTS 123 



men as an example of the " working-man naturalist " of whom 

 England and Scotland have furnished numerous instances. His 

 grandfather went to America about 1798 and settled in Phila- 

 delphia ; here Samuel was born on Feb. 5, 1826. At the age of 

 twelve he returned with his family to Belfast, wdiere in spite of 

 many difficulties he succeeded, at a time when facilities for the 

 purpose were few, in obtaining a good general education. The 

 classes conducted in natural history by Ralph Tate in 1861-64 

 under the Science and Art Department enabled Samuel to develop 

 his bent in that direction ; he distinguished himself in every class, 

 obtaining first class certificates and often silver or bronze medals 

 in geology, mineralogy, and in systematic and physiological botany 

 and zoology. To these classes may be traced the establishment 

 in Belfast of a taste for natural history ; Tate early established 

 field excursions for his more promising pupils, of whom Stewart 

 was one, and in 1863 founded the Belfast Field Club, of which 

 Stewart was always an enthusiastic supporter, and to whose Pro- 

 ceedings he contributed numerous papers on botany and geology. 

 In 1871 Stewart became a Fellow of the Botanical Society of 

 Edinburgh ; in 1890 he was appointed assistant curator of the 

 Belfast Museum, succeeding to the curatorship in 1891. In 1904 

 he was elected an Associate of the Linnean Society — an honour 

 which was celebrated by his friends at a public meeting in the 

 Museum, when he was presented with an address and a purse of 

 £120. In 1907 he retired from the Museum, but still continued 

 to take an interest in his favourite studies ; his death on June 15 

 last year was the result of a street accident. He was buried in 

 the City Cemetery, where a suitable monument will be erected to 

 his memory by the members of the Field Club. 



Mr. Praeger, who adds to Mr. Waddell's account of Stewart's 

 life an appreciation of his work, appends to it a very full biblio- 

 graphy. His contributions to this Journal range from 1884 to 

 1899, in which latter year (p. 396) he defended the Cybele Hiber- 

 nica from certain criticisms it had received. Most of his papers 

 naturally appeared in the Irish Naturalist and in other Irish pub- 

 lications. Stewart was generous in the distribution of specimens 

 and was a corresponding member of the Botanical Exchange Club. 

 Both his biographers bear witness to his modesty, energy, and 

 accuracy, as well as to his willingness to help all who asked his 

 assistance. 



Edward Perceval Wright 

 (1834-1910) 



He was born in Dublin on Dec. 27, 1834, and began life as a 

 clerk in a commercial company. In 1853 he entered Trinity 

 College, where he graduated in 1857 and was in the same year 

 appointed director of the College Museum. He studied natural 

 science under G. J. Allman, then the University Professor of 

 Botany, and in 1854 began to publish the Natural History Eevietv. 

 In 1857 Wright was appointed Director of the Dublin Natural 

 History Museum ; in 1862 he took the degree of M.D. and prac- 



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