404 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION D. 
Dr. Parker has been an important contributor to the literature 
of Biology, and especially to that part of the subject dealing with 
the indigenous fauna of New Zealand. His memoir on the “An- 
atomyand Development of Apteryx,” published inthe Transactions 
of the Royal Society in 1891, is a master-piece, and must remain 
the classical work on the subject long after Apteryx is extinct. 
Amongst his most important published contributions have been 
two excellent text-books—“ Zootomy,” published in 1884, and 
“ Lessons in Elementary Biology,” which appeared in 1893. The 
latter of these books is extensively used wherever Biology is best 
taught in England. They have both been translated into German, 
and successfully hold their own in that land of scientific treatises. 
Of late years Dr. Parker had been engaged, in conjunction with 
his friend, Professor Haswell, of the University of Sydney, in 
writing a more advanced text-book of Zoology, the last proof-sheets 
of which passed through his hands shortly before he died. Those 
who have had the privilege of seeing the pages of this work as it 
was passing through the press are of opinion that it is to be the 
leading advanced text-book of Zoology in the English language, 
and that English zoologists will no longer have all their text-books 
translations from German authors. The work is abundantly and 
excellently illustrated, and the plan is novel. In each section 
there is first given a general semi-popular statement with regard 
to the extent and characteristics of the phylum dealt with ; then 
a detailed description of an example. ‘This is followed by a brief 
statement of the distinctive characters of the phylum and of its 
main divisions, with an account of the position of the example in 
the scheme of classification. Finally, there comes the general 
organisation of the phylum, treated comparatively. 
Much of Dr. Parker’s time was occupied in the development of 
the Museum of Comparative Anatomy. In this kind of work he 
was particularly expert, and his glycerine-gelatin method for pre- 
serving cartilaginous specimens has been universally adopted. 
When one considers that in the comparative isolation of Dunedin, 
in addition to the organisation and museum work connected with 
his chair, Dr. Parker has published monographs monumental for 
accuracy of detail, and two text-books universally recognised as 
the best for the purpose they were intended, we must look upon 
him as a splendid example to try and follow with the intention of 
shifting the meridian of Biological Science some little to the 
eastward. 
When my friend Professor Haswell wrote to me a few weeks ago 
asking whether I were willing to accept the honour of the presi- 
dency of section D, he reassuringly to!d me that under the cireum- 
stances only a very little address would be expected. 
Notwithstanding this assurance I felt no small difficulty in 
deciding upon a topic suitable to bring to your notice. I could 
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