PREFACE. 



IT is fifty-two years to-day since Kobert Pocock 

 found an obscure grave away from his native town, 

 and it seems just that some tribute should be paid to 

 his memory. 



He was eminently a student of nature, and not only 

 an acquirer of useful information but its indefatigable 

 disseminator. 



The toilsome search for a fossil, the active pursuit of 

 any new butterfly, the unwearied scanning of the 

 heavens, the discovery of a rare plant, these were his 

 recreations. 



Ever accessible at his humble shop one day to 

 a waterman freighted with some outlandish fish, on 

 another to a countryman laden with a curious bird or 

 some unusual plant it was his delight to supply their 

 names and classification ; but student of nature as he 

 was, he knew that well-nigh every parish in his ancient 

 county Kent is decorated with a hundred memories 

 of historical interest, and hence his antiquarian pur- 

 suits kept pace with his study of natural history. 



