CHARLES TURNBULL HARRISSON, 



BIOLOGIST. 



" We bring no store of ingots. 

 Of spice or precious stones. 

 But that we have we gathered 



\Vith sweat and aching bones." — Kipling. 



The zoological knowledge of Charles T. Harrisson was 

 gathered not in a laboratory nor from lectures, but luider 

 the open sky, from beach, mountain and forest. This type 

 of pioneer, to whom Biology owes so much, seems more 

 and more rarely bred under modern conditions. Yet there 

 is work to be done on the frontiers of science that none 

 do so well as that self-taught, self-reliant, keen free-lance — 

 the field naturalist. 



He belonged to a family long settled in Tasmania, which, 

 like the Atkinsons and the Hulls, were mostly naturalists, 

 and to whom such scientific leaders of the last generation as 

 Tate and Tenison Woods expressed their indebtedness. 



Charles was the eldest son of Frank Harrisson, who had 

 an extensive orchard on the Brown River Road, south of 

 Hobart, and for some years was a near neighbour of Lieut. 

 C. E. Beddome, the Avell-known Conchologist. The second 

 son. Ernest Harrisson, was also a keen and successful collector. 

 The brothers were smart yachtsmen, and explored with 

 the dredge a wide area of the Derwent Estuary and 

 D'Entrecasteaux Channel. As far back as 1882, Beddome 

 dedicated Cemori harrissoni and Alexia harrissoni to 

 Mr. Charles Harrisson " one of my fellow workers." 



Ornithology was one of the first subje-ts to interest him, 

 and he formed a large collection of Tasmanian birds and their 

 eggs. 



On the death of the parents, the home broke up, and 

 Harrisson tried various occupations without much success. 

 For a time he had a dairy farm at Long Bay. Then he set 

 up a studio in Melbourne, but though a clever artist, with 

 especial ability in landscapes, he failed to obtain sufficient 

 recognition. 



A small post in the Government service at Hobart was 

 then offered him, in which position he lived pleasantly for 

 several years, and during the tenure of which he married 

 and had a son. The local Scientific Society found in him a 

 zealous and active member. \\'\ih. success he entered on 

 the study of Tasmanian Crustacea. So that when Sir Douglas 



