1. IN MEMORIAM REV. O. PICK AKD- CAMBRIDGE. 



both of whom he frequently corresponded on these subjects, 

 and both of whom consulted him upon a number of important 

 points ; and by getting to know everything that was to be 

 known, not only about his particular subject, but also about 

 his district and its fauna, he was able to contribute something 

 to those who were seeking the solution of the wider biological 

 questions which lie in the background of Natural History. It 

 is indeed idle to ask what is the value of a life devoted to 

 Natural History. The value to the naturalist himself 

 is beyond dispute. There can be few better or purer 

 pleasures than those which arise from a knowledge of Nature, 

 growing daily, and daily sought with greater patience, surer 

 confidence, and increasing hopefulness sought, moreover, 

 largely in the open air, in the woods or on the downs or the 

 heath, among ever-changing sights and sounds of beauty, in 

 little things no less than in great. But, apart from this, the 

 only answer to the question is that in one sense everyone 

 knows the value of such a life, for all knowledge has a value 

 unique in kind, and not measurable by other standards ; 

 and in another sense no one knows, for no one can foresee what, 

 in the lifetime of the naturalist or afterwards, will be the 

 larger result of facts carefully collected on a wide scale and 

 minutely studied. The moment when they will be of use for 

 the solution or illumination of large problems may be long 

 delayed, or it may come soon ; but the advance of science 

 consists in no small degree in the discovery often the sudden 

 discovery of the meaning of some great accumulation of 

 data patiently made by workers who sought for no reward 

 beyond the satisfaction of adding to the sum of human 

 knowledge, and rinding their own happiness in a pure and 

 enlightening pursuit. His great collection of Arachnida 

 has found a new home, as he desired, in the University 

 Museum at Oxford ; and there, together with his fine library 

 of Arachnological literature, it will always be accessible to 

 students. The Hope Professor of Zoology, on the occasion 

 of the acceptance of the bequest by the University, described 

 it without exaggeration as the greatest contribution to 



