158 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



The bent of his mind was always towards the solving of 

 questions of general biological interest, and especially such as 

 bore on the mutual relations of the many diverse forms of life 

 in which he was interested ; and he was one of the earliest to 

 ajipreciate the advantages of the direct experimentation which 

 now engages the attention of a distinct school of entomologists, 

 besides entering largely into the w^ork of many others. This was 

 shown in the first paper he ever read before the Entomological 

 Society, on March 1st, 1869, in which he described a series of 

 experiments on the relation between insects and insectivorous 

 birds, undertaken during the year 1868, at the suggestion of Dr. 

 A. E. Wallace. A further paper on the same subject was read 

 by him on July 4th, 1870. From 1849, Mr. Jenner Weir was 

 often a member of the Council of the Society, of which he was 

 for seven years Treasurer and twice a Vice-President. 



He was elected a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London 

 on March 2nd, 1865, and a Fellow of the Zoological Society in 

 1876, and was at the time of his death a member of the Finance 

 Committee of that Society. In 1894 he became a Fellow of the 

 Eoyal Horticultural Society, and was at his death a member of 

 its Scientific Committee and of its Narcissus Committee. Of the 

 Ray Society he was a member from 1866, and for twenty years or 

 more was on the Council of that Society, frequently taking the 

 chair at its meetings. For several years he was President or 

 Vice-President of the South London Entomological Society, and 

 he delivered his last Presidential address there on January 25th, 

 1894. Of the West Kent Natural History Society he was a 

 member and its President. 



Mr. Jenner Weir carried on an extensive correspondence with 

 the late Mr. Darwin, and frequent reference is made to his 

 observations in the works of that great naturalist, — in both 

 volumes of his ' Descent of Man,' and of the ' Animals and 

 Plants under Domestication,' as well as in the * Expressions of 

 the Emotions.' He had a large correspondence with many other 

 naturalists of eminence, both at home and abroad ; and it was a 

 great pleasure to him to welcome on his recent visit to England 

 the distinguished American naturalist Mr. Scudder. 



Mr. Weir was present at the meeting of the South London 

 Entomological Society on March 8th, and took a considerable 

 part in the discussion there, besides exhibiting some specimens. 

 It was on this occasion that he handed to the editor of this 

 Journal the proof of his paper on "The Genera of Limnaine 

 Ehopalocera allied to Cadnga," published in our last number. 

 He appeared then to be in his usual health, and was much inte- 

 rested in Mr. Frohawk's drawing of his new Caduga, with which 

 the paper is illustrated. It was known, however, to himself and 

 his friends that his heart was affected, and the end came after a 

 very brief illness. 



