114 [May, 



Octavius Pickard-Camhridge was born at Bloxworth House, Dorst-t, on 

 November 3rd, 1828, and lived the greater part of his long life at Bloxworth. 

 After a short time in London, stiidying law, he went to the University 

 of Diirham, graduating there in 1858. For two years he held the curacy of 

 Scarisbrick in Lancashire, where his outspoken adhesion to the views of L>arwin, 

 then new to the world, aroused the horror of many of his brother clergy. But 

 in 1860 he returned to Bloxworth as his father's curate, and succeeded him as 

 Rector in 1868. The greater part of the years 1864 and 1865 were spent in 

 foreign travel, mainly in Italy, Austria, Egypt, and Palestine ; he took with 

 him to Egypt an admirable taxidermist, Mr. Henry Rogers, and the party 

 brought home not only a great quantity of spiders, but a large niamber of 

 valuable birds, as well as many new and rare Lepidoptera, the best of which 

 were accepted by the British Museum. He was married in 1866, and five sons 

 survive him. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1887. He died 

 at Bloxworth on March 9th last. His primary stiidy was that of the Arachnida, 

 and among them chiefly of Spiders, Phalangidea and Chernetidea (False- 

 Scorpions). Of these he received collections from every part of the wcrld, and 

 his own probably contained a larger number of type-specimens than any in 

 existence (it includes among others most of Blackwall's types). He was in- 

 defatigable in describing and recording new and rare species, and his accurate 

 and beautiful draughtsmanship) greatly enhanced the value of his work. 



His principal publications were his share in Moggridge's "Harvesting Ants 

 and Trap-door Spiders"; Descriptions of the Spiders collected by the second 

 Yarkand Mission, and by the Challenger Expedition ; "The Spiders of Dorset," 

 with descriptions of all British Species, whether found in Dorset or not ; Mono- 

 graphs on the British Phalangidea and Chernetidea ; and the greater part of 

 that portion of the Biologia Centrali- Americana which deals with the Arachnida 

 Araneidea ; besides which he published almost annually for 50 years one or 

 more papers in variovis periodicals, containing descriptions of new species, 

 records of occurrences, and rectifications of synonyms. 



But he was also an enthusiastic student and collector of Lepidoptera, and 

 at the same time he captured specimens of other Orders of insects that 

 came in his way. His collection of British Lepidoptera is very extensive, and 

 among other varieties contains two specimens of Lycaena argiades, taken 

 on Bloxworth Heath in 1885 ; Hypena ohsitalis (Bloxworth) ; and a series of 

 Lithocolletis anderidae (Bloxworth and Bere Wood). He was a beautifiil setter 

 and always delighted to give specimens to his entomological friends. I have 

 known him work for many days or nights, long after his own series were com- 

 plete, to obtain sets for others of species which were at the time (and many of 

 which are still) considerable rarities — Noctva ditrajoezivm, Heliothis dipsacea, 

 Heliophohiis hispidus (from Portland), Oenectra pilleriana, Eupoecilia geyeriana, 

 Psoricoptera gibhosella, Cosmopteryx orichalcella, Aciptilia paludum. He was 

 above all fond of the Micros, and used to look with good-natured amusement 

 on " the diurnal and macro-lepidopterous frame of mind " of those whom he 

 called "goodness-gracious naturalists," and it was his ambition to pursue his 



