132 Thomas Sergeant Hall. [voFxxxH 



Barnard, expressing the anxiety of the members lest he had 

 overtaxed his strength, and assuring him of their earnest and 

 most hearty wishes for a return to good health. 



His interests were wide, and the Victorian Naturalist contains 

 manv papers written by him — some on zoological, some on 

 geological subjects ; others (and these are perhaps the best) 

 on subjects of general interest, designed to guide and stimulate 

 younger and less experienced workers. Amongst these we may 

 recall "What's in a Name?" "A Hunt for a Name," and, 

 best of all, " Qngarnered Grain." From the latter, which 

 formed his presidential address in 1909, we extract the fol- 

 lowing, which will serve to show the point of view from which 

 lie regarded the Club and its work : — " We are field naturalists. 

 . . . . Are the cyanide bottle, the collecting-jar, the 

 vasculum, or the geological hammer to be our tyrants and not 

 our slaves ? Worse and worse still, are we bound to describe 

 what we see and tell what we think we know in a hideous jargon 

 • it scientific terms. . . . Technical terms are necessary — 

 sometimes .... but don't mistake the glib use of poly- 

 syllables for knowledge. ... If there are two ways of 

 expressing an idea, take the simpler one. . . . Anyone who 

 has had any teaching experience, or who has tried to explain 

 some scientific fact to his friends, knows well how wonderfully 

 his ideas are clarified by the necessity of translating into simple 

 lish some thought that he thinks he understands when 

 1 lothed in technical terms. . . . The Club needs the support 

 of all its members, whether they are original investigators or not. 

 All I ask is that a dozen or so will devote some of their spare 

 time seriously to some problem that requires settling, or will do 

 something, however small, to help on the knowledge of natural 

 history in our State. ... If you are puzzled aboul the 

 choice of a subject, let me recommend the lines — 



' Do the work that's nearest, 



Though it'- dull al whiles.' 



There 1- no need to go to the polar regions for a subject. It 

 lies here, under your hand." 



[twasevidenl to those oi us who saw him during the last few 

 month-, ol the pasl v ai thai the <\\<\ must come soon. Thi re 

 were times when emed to rally and to be almosl his old 



sell cheerful and bright, and anxious to gel back to work 

 again ; b Lu illy, week after week, he became feebler, until 



on 2is1 D mber t he end 1 ;imc. 



There an amongsl us nol .1 few to whom he was " guide, 

 philosopher, and friend." He was entirely unselfish, always 

 ready to help, and he leaves behind him the record "I a man 

 who not only did good work himself, but helped and inspired 

 others to do the same, W. Ji. S. 



