1885.] 239 



at the Eojal Geographical Society became vacant ; Mr. Rye applied, and was imme- 

 diately accepted, and he held the post up to his death, with advantage to the Society 

 and credit to himself. From early youth he showed great artistic talent, and this in 

 part served him to occasionally add to his small salary as a lawyer's clerk ; he par- 

 ticularly excelled in drawing entomological subjects on wood, the taste for entomology 

 which he developed at a very early age largely aiding him ; his drawings were those 

 of an entomologist as well as an artist. As is often the case, his early entomological 

 notes concerned Lepldoptera, and the earliest we can find appeared in the " Ento- 

 mologist's Weekly Intelligencer," for May 9th, 1857 (vol. ii, p. 44). But his atten- 

 tion soon became concentrated upon British CoJeoptera, and from the first he 

 displayed not only much success in collecting, but also great acumen, and extensive 

 knowledge of the published literature, and he continued to send notes on new dis- 

 coveries, &c.,to the "Intelligencer," and also to the " Zoologist." In the "Entomolo- 

 gist's Annual" for 1863 he commenced that well-known series of laborious and critical 

 articles on British Coleoptera whicli continued to appear each year down to the close 

 of the " Annual " in 1874, and in the volume for 1872 he also published an annotated 

 List of the additions to the British Fauna from 1840 to 1871, in which he showed 

 that practically 1100 species of beetles (!) had been added during that time : in this 

 list Mr. Rye especially proved his talent for critical compilation, which stood him in 

 such good service afterwards. 



In the early part of 1864 a private meeting of friends was held to discuss the 

 advisability or otherwise of starting the " Entomologist's Monthly Magazine :" it 

 was decided to do so, and Mr. Rye was offered a position on ihe editorial staff, 

 which he accepted ; and such was his zeal, that articles and notes on British. 

 Coleoptera at once formed one of the leading features in our pages. All those 

 who were associated with him at the commencement survive to deplore his loss, 

 and although only two of the original editors continue to act, these readily testify 

 in how great a degree his energy contributed to render a success that which at first 

 was only an experiment. Latterly his multifarious duties caused him to practically 

 abandon entomology, and a few years ago he sold his magnificent collection of 

 British Beetles to Dr. Mason, of Burton-On-Trent, who, with characteristic liberality, 

 places it at the disposal of all Avorkers, both British and foreign. In 1866 a 

 volume on "British Beetles," extending to 280 pages, with 16 coloured plates, 

 was brought out by Mr. Rye, and published in Reeve and Co.'s popular series ; it 

 was accompanied by a Catalogue of our indigenous Coleoptera, and remains practi- 

 cally the only book on the same subject, treated in a popular as well as in a scientific 

 manner. From 1869, and for several years, he furnished the article Coleoptera (and 

 occasionally others) to the invaluable " Zoological Record," in which his talent as a 

 compiler again asserted itself, and from vols, x to xx (the publication of the latter 

 taking place only a few days before his death), he was sole editor, an onerous duty 

 fulfilled with great tact. Apart from his ordinary duties as Librarian, he compiled 

 the bibliographical portion of the Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society, 

 and aided the Society in many other ways. For maiiy years he acted as one of the 

 Natural History editors, and sole editor for " Travel," on the " Field " newspaper, 

 and latterly his other literary engagements wei'e exceedingly numerous : his power 

 for work seemed to increase with the demands upon it. 



