Obituary, 321 



medal and five clasps, and was given the rank of Hon. Captain 

 in the army for his services in the field. 



Mammals perhaps rather than birds engrossed Barrett- 

 Hamilton's interest, especially of late years, and most of his 

 published work relates to the higher order. After returning 

 from the Pacific he spent a great deal of his time at the 

 Natural History Museum as a voluntary worker in the 

 Mammal department, where he published a long series of 

 papers on palsearctic Mammals. At the time of his death 

 he was engaged on an authoritative work on the British 

 Mammals, of which about half the numbers have appeared. 

 It is a great satisfaction to hear that arrangements have 

 been made to complete this work. 



Barrett-Hamilton was elected a member of the Union in 

 1889, and in addition to the paper on the birds of 

 Kamchatka, wrote in 1903 for ' The Ibis ' an interesting 

 account of his observations on the flight and distribution of 

 the Albatrosses of the north Pacific. In the same year he 

 discussed (Proc. Irish Acad. xxiv. 1903, pp. 303-314) a 

 favourite theory of his, by M'hich he endeavoured to explain 

 physiologically the cause of the whitening of mammals and 

 birds in snowy countries. He believed that this was 

 connected with the cessation of metabolism and the deposit 

 of fat. He also made a number of shorter contributions to 

 ' The Zoologist ' and ' Irish Naturalist ' on various points 

 of Irish ornithology. 



In Barrett-Hamilton we lose a most enthusiastic zoologist, 

 an indefatigable and thoughtful collector, and a charming 

 personality, beloved by all who had the pleasure of his 

 acquaintance. Like Wilson and Boyd Alexander, he is cut 

 ofi" in his prime, before he has had time to do his life's w^ork, 

 and we cannot but feel great sorrow that we have lost so 

 many of our younger and promising naturalists during the 

 last few years. 



He married in 1903, Maude Charlotte, daughter oE 

 Mrs. Sarah Clibborn Eland, of Kavenshill, Transvaal, and 

 she and six young children survive him, 



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