490 THOMAS KIEK, F.L.S. 



first published paper was on the ferns and fern allies of Warwick- 

 shire {Pkytologist, ii. 809), which was followed by another on the 

 rarer flowering plants of the county [I.e. 969); these appeared in 

 1847. A note on the occurrence of Auacharis in Northamptonshire 

 appeared in the same journal in 1848. About 1858 he communi- 

 cated to Mr. Watson a catalogue of plants seen by him in Warwick- 

 shire, accompanied by specimens. Mr. Bagnall, in his Flora of 

 IVancichshire, says that Kirk paid attention to the mosses as well as 

 to the flowering plants of the county ; " he corresponded with 

 several of the more prominent botanists of that day, such as Borrer, 

 Babington, Bloxam, and W. G. Perry. To the herbarium of the 

 [last-named] botanist he contributed many of the rarer flowering 

 plants and a collection of mosses : these form part of the Perry 

 herbarium in the Warwick Museum." 



In 1863 Kirk emigrated to New Zealand; his departure, says 

 Mr. Watson, was " a loss to our home botany." It was, however, 

 a gain to New Zealand, for he at once took up the botany of the 

 colony, and from that time until his death devoted himself assidu- 

 ously to it. The first of his very numerous papers on New Zealand 

 plants appeared in 1868 in the first volume of the Transactions of 

 the New Zealand Institute, of which body he was then curator and 

 secretary, and in whose Transactions most, of his work was pub- 

 lished. In 187-4 he removed to Wellington, where he was appointed 

 lecturer on natural science at Wellington College, which was 

 affiliated to the New Zealand University. 



Kirk's largest publication was The Forest Flora of New Zealand 

 — a folio work containing 142 plates, executed under his direction, 

 which was issued by the New Zealand Government in 1889. For 

 a considerable period he had been engaged in the preparation of a 

 " Student's Flora" of the Colony ; this, we regret to learn, although 

 partly in type, is but half finished. We trust that the material for 

 completing it exists in the rough, as it will be difficult to find any 

 one to carry it on who is possessed of the knowledge and experience 

 of the late botanist. In connection with this work his attention 

 was drawn to the unpublished plates prepared for Sir Joseph Banks 

 in connection with Cook's first voyage ; by permission of the 

 British Museum authorities, impressions were taken from these 

 and sent to New Zealand, wdiere the Colonial Government pro- 

 posed to publish them in a reduced form, with Kirk's identifications. 

 The Banks and Solander plants were a source of continual interest 

 to Kirk, and he Avas in frequent correspondence with me about 

 them: one of his latest papers, on the "Botany of the East Cape 

 District" (Trans. N. Z. Institute, xxix. 509 (1896)) is largely con- 

 cerned with their collections. His later letters contained many 

 allusions to his failing health, but the end came somewhat suddenly 

 on the 8th of March last, at Plimmerton, near WelUngton. 



James Britten. 



