xlvii 



gn picnunnam. 



THE LATE MR. ALEX. MORTON. 



TIk! nows of tlio doatli of Mr. Alex- 

 ander Morton, Director of the Tas- 



manian Museum, will bo received with 

 regret bv the puhlif of Tasmania, to 

 ■wliom liis name lias long been a, Jioiise- 

 hold word, as also by scientific workers 

 throughout Australia, by whom he was 

 held in high esteem. Mr. Morton died 

 shortly before noon on Mondiay, May 

 27, 1907, at Whitniiuster Lodge Pri- 

 vate Hospital, Sandy Bay, near Hobart, 

 Tasmania, of which he had been an in- 

 mate for soime weeks. • The immedi- 

 ate cause of death was heart disease. 



Born at Hardtimes Landing, Louisi- 

 ana, about fifty-tw^o years ago, the 

 son of a planter, Mr. Morton, while 

 yet a boy, m.igrated with his father 

 to Queensland. Morton senior invest- 

 ed what capital he possessed in a 

 . ii: a r plantation, but died before he 

 had time to bring his enterprise to a 

 suceessful issue. In consequence of 



his father's death, Alex. Morton, who 

 was still young, was thrown entirely 

 upon his own resources : he had to 

 begin life at the foot of the ladder, 

 For a time, in colloquial phrase, he 

 roughed it ; he gained a livelihood hy 

 the means he found most ready to 

 hand, and at one period served as a 

 seaman before the mast. Subsequent- 

 ly the experience gained in liis younger 

 davs became invaiuablo to iiivii- for it 

 fitted him, as no other trainiiio; could, 

 for the missions which he was selectecl 

 to undertake by the Council of the Syd- 

 ney Museum and other scientific bodies. 

 Havino; joined the staff of the Sydney 

 Museum, he rose rapidly in the estima- 

 tion of the CounciJ, and of the Cura- 

 tor (Mr. Ramsay); and when it was 

 decided to send an exploring party to 

 -Sew Guinea, to the remote parts of 

 Queensland, and to the Andaman 

 Islands, he was chosen for the work, 

 and discharged his commission in a 

 manner which gave general satisfao- 

 tio.n. He visitecl places which had not 

 previously been explored by a scientific 

 collector, a fact which gives some of 

 his records a unique value. In the 

 course of time Mr. Morton came to 

 hold a high iMsition in the Sydney 

 Museum, and when the directorship 

 of the Tasmanian Museum became va- 

 cant, ahout 23 years ago, he offered 

 himself for the post. The Royal So- 

 ciety, in view of hi=. favourable recom- 



mendation by the authorities of the 

 sister institution in New South Wales, 

 unhesitatingly appointed him. That 

 the Royal Society 'v\Tas exceptionally 

 hanpy in its choice has long been 

 universally admitted. The Tasraaarian 

 Museum in its present magnitude and 

 completeness is of Mr. Morton's crea/- 

 tion. He revised the classification of 

 the collection of specimens which he 

 found on talcing charge of the institu- 

 tion ; and not only did he i^evise it, 

 but he added to and increased it very 

 materially. His object was not mere- 

 ly to make the Museum a place where 

 the curious might gratify a taste for 

 novelt^- but a school for the instruction 

 of hoth local people aind visiting 

 scientists. His scheme of classifica- 

 tion enabled the inquirer to view the 

 natural history of the whole island, 

 as it were, in miniature. Besides be- 

 ing a Curator of all-round capacity, 

 there were some departments of his 

 work to which he devoted particular 

 attention, and in which he achieved 

 notable success. In ornithology and 

 ichthyology he made original re- 

 searches, and materially improved the 

 collections of specimens illustrative of 

 these branc-hes of aatural history. Mr. 

 Morton did not profess to be a con- 

 noisseur of art, hut with the means at 

 his disposal he did his best to get t.o- 

 gether a collection of pictures worthy 

 of the city. His success in securing 

 works of art on loan was remarlvable; 

 indeed, he succeeded when no one else 

 would think of making an attempffc. 

 As secreta.ry of the Royal Society, he 

 discharged his duties with the same 

 abounding energy, and to him must be 

 assigned in a large measure the credit 

 of having maintained public interest 

 in its discusisions. And while he was 

 ever ready to put his own shoulder to the 

 wheel, he possessed in a rare degree 

 the faculty of enlisting the serv.ices of 

 all whom he thought capable of assist- 

 ing. If an eminent scientist, visited 

 the city, the public never waited long 

 to learn that Mr. Morton had induc- 

 ed him to give the Royal Society the 

 benefit of his special Iniowledge. There 

 was another institution, the Science 

 Conference, in which Mr. Morton in- 

 terested himself, and on behalf of 

 which he worked with characteristic 

 -vigour. It benefited largely by hit 



