A Hundred a Year wanted. 343 



endowment of the necessary hundred a year could be 

 provided to pay the wages of an attendant, to meet 

 the expense of repairs, and so to keep the Ark in 

 permanent working order. Such a compliment to the 

 naturalist of Cumbrae would be alike appropriate, 

 deserved, and welcome. If others far more than himself 

 would derive advantage from it, his reward would still 

 be in keeping with his character. Any selfish acquisi- 

 tion has been the last thing that his scientific work has 

 ever aimed at. A few expressions from his corre- 

 spondence during the last twenty years may be quoted 

 as examples. When sending to one friend organisms 

 carefully mounted for the microscope, some to be kept 

 and others to be examined and returned, he says, 

 " In all cases, red slides are for yourself, but never 

 hesitate to take from the white slides anything you 

 may require." To a friend who had asked him for 

 specimens whenever he might happen to have 

 abundance of a certain species, he answers, " I shall 

 not wait for abundance, but if I have one, you shall 

 have the others." To another friend he writes, 

 " Never hesitate to take from any I send if there are 

 more than one, and that one if to serve any particular 

 purpose." To a friend who was modestly reluctant to 

 accept specimens he writes, "It would give me more 

 pleasure to work, believing that it might be of more 

 use to others as well as myself." It is not surprising 

 that one of his friends should say what many of them 

 must feel, " But what can I do to* you in return? For 

 I have already so many kindnesses to thank you for, 

 that there is a big balance all on one side of the 

 ledger." 



