STRAY NATURE-NOTES 275 



much progress having been made since those days. 

 While his " History of British Moths" was in course 

 of publication he undertook to prepare such a 

 catalogue, and the work was completed and pub- 

 lished early in 1865. With a view to making the 

 catalogue as useful as possible, one feature of it 

 was, that it could be made available for the mutual 

 exchange of specimens. The names, too, being 

 printed on one side of the paper only, could easily 

 be utilised for fixing in cabinets. The work was 

 one of some difficulty; indeed, it could not have 

 been carried out without assistance, and on its 

 completion he gratefully acknowledged the help 

 he had received from Mr. W. F. Kirby, and from 

 others who were engaged at the British Museum. 

 The catalogue extended to 125 pages, and the 

 looking through of the proofs only must have 

 needed the greatest care. It is certainly remark- 

 able that such a by-work should have been carried 

 out at a time when the " History of British Moths " 

 was in course of publication an undertaking which 

 involved such untold trouble and difficulty. This 

 is, indeed, one of the many standing proofs of 

 the extraordinary patience and perseverance of the 

 author, and his unbendable determination to over- 

 come all difficulties that stood in the way of any- 

 thing on which he had set his mind to accomplish. 



Not least among the large collection of Nature- 

 notes that he had in course of years brought to- 

 gether was the extraordinary mass of anecdotes of 

 animal sagacity and character that had come before 



