261. Lttters, Extracts, Notices, b^c. 



South Kensington, where he eagerly followed the teach- 

 ings of Prof. Huxley and INIr. Howes. When, at the 

 close of the year 1884, Prof. Flower was seeking some 

 one to assist him in the formation of an elementary series of 

 biological preparations to be placed in the great hall of the 

 National Museum of Natural History, as an introduction 

 to tlie study of the subjects more fully developed in the 

 special galleries, he became acquainted with Mr. Wray, 

 who entered with enthusiasm into the project, and soon 

 showed that he possessed every natural capacity requisite for 

 such a work. A neat-handed, skilful dissector, a good mecha- 

 nician, an excellent draftsman, he displayed great taste and 

 ingenuity in carrying out and even, it is said, improving upon 

 the suggestions made to him by the Director. While he 

 Avas engaged in the formation of a series of preparations to 

 illustrate the arrangement of the bones and feathers of the- 

 wings of birds, the very insufficient state of the know^ledge upon 

 the subject, as recorded in ornithological works, became appa- 

 rent, and Mr. Wray made some valuable original observations, 

 which were embodied in a paper " On some Points in the 

 INIorphology of the Wings of Birds,^^ published in the 'Pro- 

 ceedings ' of the Zoological Society for 1887. This and two 

 minor papers on kindred subjects* were all that he was able 

 to communicate to the world ; for, unhappily, his powers w^ere 

 greatly diminished by long-continued ill-health, and finally 

 gave way to pulmonary phthisis, to which he succumbed on 

 the 12th of February last. He has, however, left a lasting 

 memorial of his patience, ability, and knowledge in the pre- 

 parations which enrich the Museum ; and his simple, modest, 

 unaffected character, and the genuine earnestness with which 

 he entered into the performance of every duty, will not be 

 easily forgotten by those who had the pleasure and advan- 

 tage of being in any way associated with him. 



* These are : — ( 1 ) " On the Structure of the Barbs, Barbules, and Bar- 

 bicols of a Typical Penuaceous Feather,'' Ibis, 1887, p. 420 ; (2) " Note 

 on a Vestigial Structure in the Adult Ostrich representing the Distal 

 Phalanges of Digit ni.,"" P. Z. S. 1887, p. 283. 



