364 Timehri. 



mammalia, mainly of the great savannahs, published by the Annals and 

 Magazine of Natural History for the British Museum on collections 

 made by me. altogether unique of their kind. 



This record, however, is but a very incomplete one of his wide interest 

 in the natural history of the colony ; and the national collections of the 

 British Museum of England, for a long course of years, are indebted to 

 him for whole series of much wanted and often altogether new material 

 — new both to the British Museum and often to Science — illustrating the 

 ornithology and mammalian life, mainly, of Guiana. 



For a long course of years he has been getting together as typical 

 a collection as possible of the avifauna of the colony, and for some years 

 now. in collaboration with the officer of the British Museum who is the 

 recognised authority on Neo-tropical birds, has been preparing for 

 publication a work that would have been the most complete of its kind — 

 but for his untimely death. 



Outside of his contributions to the Society and to science I have no 

 need to write. All who knew him will mourn the departure of a tine 

 and accomplished gentleman, unaffected and unpretentious ; of a comrade, 

 altogether loyal ; and of a friend, always kindly, trustworthy and honour- 

 able. — I am, Sir, yours, 



J. J. QUELCH. 



Melville. 



January 26, 1914. 



WEST INDIAN UNIFICATION. 



I)eak Sir, — J understand that the Chairman (His Excellency) 

 invited me to express my views after Mr. E. Davson's lecture at 

 the Royal Agricultural and Commercial Society's Rooms on the subject 

 of ' The West Indies : Their Common Interest and Imperial Aim." 

 I ha -I already left for an urgent Committee meeting, but I should 

 like to say, in view of this invitation of which I feel the compliment, 

 that 1 agree with Mr. Davson in the main. We were both, I think, as 

 fellow-delegates to the West Indian Agricultural Conference of 1912 at 

 Trinidad, greatly impressed by the growing feeling of West Indian soli- 

 darity evidenced by the proceedings of the Conference. This feeling 

 was apparent not only in the official part of the programme but in the 

 unofficial and more or less spontaneous proceedings in which Mr. Davson 

 took no small part. I think we were equally impressed by the minor 

 obstacles in the way of Federation which the Conference revealed and to 

 meet these as far as Agriculture was concerned some of us drew up and 

 succeeded in carrying resolutions to secure consultation and fully repre- 

 sentative arrangements in regard to the holding of future Conferences 

 and to enable important items to be dealt with more comprehensively 

 by Committees of those interested instead of being almost shut out 

 through the congestion of a lengthy business programme dealt with 

 consecutively. The Imperial Commissioner, Dr. Watts, whose difficult 



