MEMOIR OF SIR J. G. DALYELL. xliii 



Creator," his sister was an able assistant in all his zoological researches — 

 both in procuring specimens, and facilitating his observations ; and we 

 may reiterate the statement of Professor Fleming that it is wholly owing 

 to her respect for the memory of her talented brother, and a desire that 

 the scientific world should reap the full benefit of his observations, that 

 this his last work has been so satisfactorily brought to a close. She at- 

 tended him in all his excursions, undertaken every summer, to the fishing 

 stations at North Berwick, St Andrews, &c., for the purpose of picking up 

 such rare animals as the fishermen might have fallen in with. Many 

 specimens were obtained from Orkney, which were usually forwarded by 

 parties on the spot. 



These excursions were much enjoyed both by Sir John and his sister. 

 To the student of nature nothing is more pleasuig than to escape from the 

 busy hum of men, and contemplate the varied and beautiful works of 

 creation. No truly great mind can be insensible of the peculiar feeHng 

 so produced. Scenes of striking grandeur, or of calm repose, awaken cor- 

 responding thoughts, and are often the source of high emprise, or of calm 

 and dignified philosophy. Upon one occasion, amongst many, the tourists 

 spent a very happy day at a place called Canty Bay, eastward a short dis- 

 tance of North Berwick. The bank was hterally covered with primroses 

 in full bloom. The fragrance might extend a mile. About half-way 

 down the bank they seated themselves upon a fallen tree, near to a rill 

 which settled itself into a sort of pool or marsh. There Sir John found 

 the beautiful zoophite Vorticella (Plate 21, " Rare and Remarkable Ani- 

 mals," Vol. I.) It resembled a bunch of the finest silk thread, almost im- 

 perceptible to the eye of any one save a zealous naturalist. Placed under 

 a high magnifier, in the microscope, howeyer, the beautiful bell flowers 

 were displayed, all tacked together and suspended by the slender cord 

 which bound them in such luxuriance. As he was stooping to take it, 

 something rustled under the skirt of his coat, and upon looking, it proved 

 to be a bird (yellow-hammer,) which had quitted its pretty little nest, 

 containing four eggs. Curious enough, it returned after a few minutes, 

 and slipped back to its charge, unconscious apparently of danger being 

 near. The spot was certainly a solitary one, but the splendour of the 



