VI 



death, and he was a Member of the Imperial Society of Naturalists 

 of Moscow. The gradual decline of his wife's health did much to 

 sadden many years of Parker's life, and some little time after her 

 death, as well as that of his father and mother, symptoms of an 

 organic ailment became apparent, to which he eventually succumbed. 

 But he had learned to bear his burden quietly and with manliness, and 

 in spite of trouble sufficient to crush many a stronger person, he 

 showed a cheerful face to the world, and found happiness in his work 

 and home-life. In the autumn of 1892 he came on a visit to England, 

 intending to visit the European Museums for the examination of remains 

 of the Dinornithidse, in order to complete his monograph on that 

 group. At the end of the time he had the great delight of spending a 

 few days at Eastbourne with his old chief, of his admiration for whom 

 he afterwards wrote : " Whether a professor is usually a hero to his 

 demonstrator I cannot say ; I only know that, looking back across an 

 interval of many years and a distance of half the circumference of the 

 globe, I have never ceased to be impressed with the manliness and 

 sincerity of his character, his complete honesty of purpose, his high 

 moral standard, his scorn of everything mean or shifty, his firm deter- 

 mination to speak what he held to be truth at whatever cost of popu- 

 larity. And for these things I loved the man, and do honour to his 

 memory, on this side idolatry, as much as any." 



Parker's last completed piece of work was his aforementioned ' Text- 

 Book of Zoology,' written in conjunction with Professor W. A. Haswell r 

 F.R.S., of the Sydney University. This was begun in 1892, and 

 though all the proofs were corrected before his death, he did not live to- 

 see it published. The original plan of this beautifully illustrated book, 

 the clearness of the well-balanced descriptions, as well as of the parts 

 dealing with the wider and more general aspects of the subject, place it 

 in the front rank of elementary zoological text-books ; and throughout 

 the work it is evident that the authors have been more careful to 

 supply what is best for the beginner than to impress the reader with 

 their own wide acquaintance with details. A shorter form of this book 

 was in course of preparation at the time of Parker's death, and he had 

 nearly completed half the manuscript for a 'Biology for Beginners/ 

 and was making plans with his brother, Professor W. N. Parker, for 

 the preparation of an ' Elementary Practical Zoology.' He had also- 

 begun, in conjunction with Mr. J. P. Hill, of Sydney University, an 

 investigation on some Emeu chicks, and had obtained interesting 

 results. 



In the autumn of 1895, Parker suffered from a bad attack of 

 influenza, and the following year he paid a visit to Sydney ; but the 

 journey was apparently beyond his strength. A second attack of 

 influenza in the summer of 1897 completely prostrated him, and was 

 followed by serious symptoms. Again and again he tried to resume 



