﻿146 
  

  

  of 
  knowledge 
  ! 
  And 
  is 
  it 
  not 
  this 
  result 
  alone 
  that, 
  in 
  fairness, 
  we 
  

   can 
  consider 
  ? 
  Such 
  men 
  do 
  great, 
  permanent 
  and 
  continual 
  good 
  : 
  

   they 
  render 
  our 
  science 
  an 
  unquestionable 
  service, 
  and 
  their 
  motives 
  

   are 
  no 
  more 
  to 
  be 
  called 
  in 
  question 
  than 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  artist 
  or 
  the 
  

   author, 
  who 
  receives 
  the 
  just 
  reward 
  of 
  his 
  well-directed 
  labours. 
  

  

  The 
  results 
  of 
  collecting 
  in 
  Britain, 
  during 
  each 
  successive 
  year, 
  

   appear 
  almost 
  incredible 
  ; 
  and, 
  when 
  we 
  recollect 
  the 
  indefatigable 
  

   zeal 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  preceded 
  us, 
  it 
  seems 
  surprising 
  that 
  so 
  much 
  

   should 
  be 
  done. 
  Our 
  English 
  collectors 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  found 
  in 
  Scot- 
  

   land 
  comparatively 
  a 
  virgin 
  soil 
  as 
  regards 
  Entomology, 
  and 
  a 
  soil, 
  I 
  

   may 
  add, 
  of 
  incomparable 
  richness. 
  

  

  From 
  British 
  collectors 
  the 
  transition 
  is 
  easy 
  to 
  others, 
  who, 
  inspired 
  

   by 
  a 
  like 
  taste, 
  led 
  on 
  by 
  an 
  insatiable 
  thirst 
  for 
  a 
  more 
  intimate 
  acquain- 
  

   tance 
  with 
  Nature 
  in 
  her 
  grandest 
  phases 
  and 
  forms, 
  have 
  left 
  their 
  

   homes, 
  have 
  abandoned 
  their 
  prospects 
  of 
  worldly 
  welfare, 
  and 
  have 
  

   sought, 
  in 
  warmer 
  climes, 
  those 
  glorious 
  creatures 
  which 
  our 
  chilly 
  

   regions 
  cannot 
  produce. 
  Your 
  late 
  Secretary, 
  once 
  my 
  most 
  be- 
  

   loved 
  and 
  intimate 
  friend, 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  these; 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  

   my 
  belief, 
  that 
  while 
  assiduously 
  collecting 
  in 
  the 
  Floridas, 
  he 
  laid 
  

   the 
  foundation 
  of 
  that 
  painful 
  and 
  lingering 
  disease 
  which 
  finally 
  de- 
  

   prived 
  our 
  science 
  of 
  one 
  of 
  its 
  brightest 
  ornaments. 
  Another 
  loss, 
  

   truly 
  to 
  be 
  lamented, 
  but 
  of 
  a 
  very 
  different 
  character, 
  is 
  that 
  we 
  have 
  

   sustained, 
  not 
  in 
  the 
  death 
  of 
  an 
  individual, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  destruction 
  of 
  

   a 
  zoological 
  treasure 
  ; 
  I 
  allude, 
  of 
  course, 
  to 
  the 
  collections 
  made 
  by 
  

   our 
  friend 
  Mr. 
  Wallace. 
  That 
  energetic 
  traveller, 
  led 
  by 
  the 
  thirst 
  1 
  

   have 
  already 
  described 
  to 
  behold 
  with 
  his 
  own 
  eyes, 
  and 
  not 
  through 
  

   the 
  too 
  often 
  distorting 
  medium 
  of 
  books, 
  the 
  exuberant 
  luxuriance 
  

   of 
  animal 
  and 
  vegetable 
  life 
  as 
  developed 
  by 
  the 
  i-ays 
  of 
  a 
  vertical 
  sun, 
  

   devoted 
  himself 
  to 
  the 
  acquisition 
  of, 
  and 
  actually 
  acquired, 
  a 
  most 
  

   intimate 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  Natural 
  History 
  of 
  the 
  Valley 
  of 
  the 
  Ama- 
  

   zons 
  ; 
  but 
  alas, 
  returning 
  with 
  his 
  hard-earned 
  treasures, 
  the 
  ill-fated 
  

   ' 
  Helen,' 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  a 
  passenger, 
  took 
  fire 
  and 
  went 
  down 
  in 
  

   mid-ocean, 
  leaving 
  our 
  friend 
  to 
  buffet 
  with 
  the 
  waves. 
  Providentially 
  

   he 
  escaped 
  ; 
  he 
  was 
  picked 
  up 
  by 
  the 
  ' 
  Jordeson' 
  two 
  hundred 
  miles 
  

   from 
  land, 
  and 
  has 
  lived 
  to 
  record 
  in 
  glowing 
  words 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  his 
  

   discoveries, 
  his 
  triumphs, 
  his 
  losses 
  and 
  his 
  preservation. 
  1 
  cannot 
  

   forbear 
  to 
  quote 
  from 
  his 
  own 
  pen 
  the 
  record 
  of 
  his 
  feelings, 
  when, 
  

   no 
  longer 
  in 
  jeopardy, 
  he 
  first 
  realized 
  the 
  enormous 
  loss 
  he 
  had 
  

   sustained 
  : 
  — 
  

  

  " 
  It 
  was 
  now, 
  when 
  the 
  danger 
  appeared 
  past, 
  that 
  I 
  began 
  to 
  feel 
  

   fully 
  the 
  greatness 
  of 
  my 
  loss. 
  With 
  what 
  pleasure 
  had 
  I 
  looked 
  

  

  