148 Letters, Announcements, &c. 
to the Zoological Society. This appoimtment is one which, 
perhaps more than any now existing, comes near to an ideal 
endowment of research. An unlimited amount of new 
material is placed in the hands of its occupant; there are 
no duties beyond those of making and recording original 
observations ; and ample facilities are given for the publi- 
cation and illustration of all the observations made. ‘To 
the efficient performance of the duties of this office Mr. 
Garrod applied himself with great energy and zeal, as 
testified by his numerous contributions upon the comparative 
anatomy of the vertebrate animals, which have enriched the 
publications of the Society from the date of his appointment 
to the present time. He devoted great attention to the 
anatomy of birds, hitherto too much neglected; and his 
observations upon their myology and visceral anatomy were 
beginning to throw some light upon the very difficult and 
obscure subject of the mutual affinities of the members of 
this class. The curious and most unexpected variations 
in structure often revealed in the dissection of species thought 
to be closely allied, soon convinced him of the necessity of 
far more extended and minute observations than had pre- 
viously been made; and those who closely watched his 
work, and knew that, besides the observations he had had 
time to complete and publish, he had already accumulated a 
vast mass of facts, partly in notes and drawings, and partly 
in the stores of his memory, feel most keenly how much has 
been lost by his early death. 
“« His eagerness in acquiring knowledge was only equalled 
by his activity in imparting it to others; and he had a 
remarkably easy and lucid method of explaining, even to an 
uninstructed audience, difficult problems of physiology or 
anatomy. With the black board, or some ingeniously con- 
trived diagram or mechanical illustration, he was never at a 
loss to make his hearers comprehend his meaning. These 
great and varied powers probably tempted him to overtask 
his strength. Not content with his work at the Zoological 
Society, he sought for and obtained the Professorship of 
Zoology and Comparative Anatomy at King’s College in 
