﻿352 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. ^. 



and fame as linguist, and poet in the realms of folk-song, and fairy- 

 land. The sagas of the North and the tales of the Orient particularly- 

 exercised a fascination over a mind none the less imaginative because, 

 tutored in the schools of science, it had achieved the virtue of orderli- 

 ness. I regret to say that it was only in his later life that I came in 

 close touch with him, and learned to appreciate his exquisite and 

 fantastic humour, his literary sense, and profound scholarship. Away, 

 indeed, from his Department in the Natural History Museum, South 

 Kensington, where he did faithful service from 1879 and 1909, after 

 twelve years' apprenticeship in the Museum of the Royal Dublin 

 Society, he allowed himself to pass from the dusty road of reality to 

 the by-paths of romance with all the enthusiasm and freshness of a 

 heart which never grew old. He even broke a lance or two in the 

 arena of controversial theology, his views as a naturalist in relation 

 to the organization of the cosmos finding expression in a book on 

 ' Evolution and Natural Theology.' But it is not within our province 

 here to appraise his literary labours outside the sphere which he con- 

 tinued to enrich and adorn to the last days of a useful life ; though I 

 recall now that it is barely a year since he wrote to me in con- 

 nection with a projected entomological text-book which he had been 

 offered : " I have other work in hand, and can hardly spare the time ; 

 besides which, I have rather written myself out in that direction." 

 This, however, was no more than a characteristic assertion of the 

 innate modesty of the man whose pioneer endeavours opened up to 

 so many otherwise "British" entomologists new and delightful 

 regions to explore. His ' Manual of European Butterflies ' appeared 

 in 1862, and was, I beheve, the first guide to the subject by an 

 English author published in England, and this he supplemented in 

 1863 with ' A Synonymic List of European Butterflies for Labefling 

 Cabinets,' which, again, was followed eight years later by the ' Sy- 

 nonymic Catalogue of Diurnal Lepidoptera ' (Supplement, 1877) 

 — still a standard and much consulted authority. Meanwhile, a 

 number of papers from his pen on all Orders were being contributed 

 to the 'Transactions' of the Entomological Society of London, and 

 the Journals and Eeports of other scientific Societies ; and past 

 issues of the ' Zoological Eecord ' bear further testimony to his 

 unflagging industry as a compiler. He was elected a member of 

 the Entomological Society in 1861, and served as one of the Hon. 

 Secretaries from 1881 to 1885, and as member of the Council in 

 1886. He joined the staff of the ' Entomologist ' in 1894. 



The son of Mr. Samuel Kirby, banker, of Leicester, he was born 

 ill 1844, and married, in 1866, Johanna Maria Kappel, who pre- 

 deceased him in 1893, leaving one son, William Forsell Kirby him- 

 self died on Wednesday, November 20th last, and was buried in 

 Chiswick Cemetery on November 26th. 



H. Rowland-Bkown. 



PRIKTED BY WEST, NEWMAN AND CO., HATTON GARDEN, LONDON, E.C. 



