PREFACE. 



MANY friends of my Brother's have pressed me to give 

 them a sketch of his life. This memoir is an effort 

 to comply with their wishes ; and I have thought it 

 due to the memory of one who worked so devotedly 

 in the service of Natural History, not to restrict the 

 book to mere private circulation, but rather to make 

 the record of a noble and unselfish life accessible to 

 all. The high position which my Brother long held 

 among the naturalists of Ireland was partly the result 

 of qualities which his published writings do not show, 

 but of which, perhaps, some idea may be gathered 

 from the extracts from his journals and correspon- 

 dence given in these pages. To quote the words of 

 his friend, Mr. R. M. Barrington, in the Irish Naturalist 

 (May, 1895): "Nobody can hope to fill his place; 

 no one is equally familiar with birds, mammals, 

 fishes, reptiles, flowering plants and ferns, a versa- 

 tility which was happily combined with a sound 

 judgment, great tact, and a suavity and gentleness 

 of manner peculiarly attractive. His ability was 

 perhaps best testified by the regard which was enter- 

 tained for him by every one. He has left a blank 



