50 [February, 



Under a somewhat brusque manner was concealed a hearty sympathy for all real 

 workers, and if he offended, it was commonly in the way of pointing out to would-be 

 introducers, &c., of supposed novelties that some one or other had already made 

 similar observations, his vast memory rendering him very dangerous in this respect. 

 He had his eccentricities, one of which was his parsimony in the matter of stationery : 

 one seldom received a letter from him that was not enclosed in an envelope that 

 had already been used, and his papers, memoirs, and drawings were usually written 

 and made on the blank side of prospectuses, circulars, &e., and so on — " waste not, 

 want not," was his motto. In society there could be no more genial companion, 

 full of anecdote, but with small appreciation of humour. At home there could 

 be no more generous host. 



Having detailed a few of the personal characteristics of Prof. Westwood, it is 

 necessary to say more of his work ; to say anything adequate would require a 

 No. of this Magazine. His early papers appeared in the Natural History Journals 

 of the period (English and French). In 1833 the Entomological Society of London 

 was founded, and Westwood identified himself with it from the commencement. 

 He was elected Secretary in 1834 (Mr. Gr. R. Gray was the first Secretary), and 

 continued such for several years ; by his vigour he successfully combatted an oppo- 

 sition that threatened to crush the infant Society (see " Postscript " to Introduction 

 to Vol. i of the Transactions). The Kev. F. W. Hope, a wealthy amateur, was then 

 President, and became Westwood's warm pati'on. His interest in the welfare of 

 the Society never flagged : he was President on thi-ee periods of two years each, and 

 on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Society in 1883 was appointed Honoi'ary Life 

 President. But his papers were scattered through inimmerable publications ; there 

 never was so prolific a writer, there is scarcely a Family of insects in any Order on 

 which he did not treat, even to the most minute, for he was an adept at microscopic 

 work almost to the last. As to the accuracy of his work there can be no question, 

 and few men have made less mistakes. There was, however, a somewhat ludicrous in- 

 cident in this respect. Many years ago he exhibited at the Entomological Society 

 what he pronounced to be a gigantic flea, found dead in a bed at Gateshead, and 

 described it as Pulex imperaLor, but which afterwards he discovered was only 

 the young larva of a cockroach, crushed laterally. Such a mistake might have 

 crushed a more sensitive and less famous man ; as it was the name he imposed on 

 the supposed flea clung to him for years. . His separate works were many. Even if 

 he had written nothing else, his " Introduction to the Modern Classification of 

 Insects " is sufiicient to stamp him as the foremost entomologist of this or any other 

 age ; a monument of original obser\ration and careful compilation. This work gained 

 him the Eoyal Medal of the Royal Society in 1855, but he persistently then, and on 

 subsequent occasions, refused to be nominated for election as F.R.S., though his 

 success was certain. Perhaps he considered the views of the Society as already too 

 advanced, and soon afterwards the teachings of Darwin and others revolutionized 

 natural science, and no doubt caused him genuine pain, for he never identified 

 himself with Natural Selection or Evolution, and indeed, it is probable he never 

 fully understood the bearing of the new school of philosophical thought. He was 

 elected into the Linnean Society in 1827, and was on the Honorary List of nearly 

 every Entomological and kindred Society of his period. He was on the staff of 

 the " Gardener's Chronicle " as entomological referee for nearly half a century. 



