170 THK KNTOMOLOGIST. 



appearing in this magazine. To him, and some of his 

 contemporaries, we owe much of our present knowledge in 

 various branches of Natural History. The little band of 

 workers ti) whom he belonged, and who are now fast passing 

 away, were so unostentatious, but so successful, in their 

 studies, that they are deserving of our admiration. The 

 pursuit of knowledge half a century ago was a very different 

 matter from what it is in the present day ; the great facilities 

 now offered to students were then unknown. 



Born 14th July, 1797, Dr. Bowerbank in due course 

 became a member of an eminent firm of distillers in London, 

 with which his family had long been associated. This 

 occupation he followed for some time successfully ; but, 

 having always a strong taste for natural science, he eventually 

 left this, to him, less congenial pursuit, and finally devoted 

 himself entirely to Natural History. Upwards of half a 

 century ago he was an eminent lecturer on biological 

 subjects before the old Mathematical Society of Spitalfields, 

 a Society which has probably produced from amongst its 

 members more eminent scientific men than any association in 

 this kingdom. 



As an entomologist he was well known for his careful and 

 accurate studies of insect anatomy. He chose this subject 

 for his first published paper, which appeared in the ' Ento- 

 mological Magazine,' in 1833, "On the Circulation of the Blood 

 in Insects." To show that his interest in this subject long 

 continued, I may remind my readers that in 1873, forty years 

 later, he published in pamphlet form an elaborate article, 

 ' On the Brain and a Portiou of the Nervous System of 

 Pediculus capitis,^ which contains some interesting observa- 

 tions on the amount of sensation exhibited by several insects 

 when injured or mutilated. 



Dr. Bowerbank's great work, and the one by which he will 

 be best known to posterity, is his ' Monograph of the British 

 Spongiada;.' Of this work three volumes have already been 

 published by the Ray Society in their Transactions; and the 

 manuscript of the fourth was fortunately completed only 

 within a few days of his death. Those who have worked with 

 this splendid manual can well appreciate the amount of 

 labour and careful observation necessary for its production. 

 'i'iie British sj)ongeK were, until taken in hand by him, an 



