368 Canadian Record of Science. 



writings, and still possesses a charm for readers long accus- 

 tomed to popular works on science. 



A kind of inertia had begun to creep over Gosse. One 

 bv one, he had dropped his old acquaintances, and daily 

 retired more within himself. In 1860 however he married 

 again, and Miss Brighton, who became his second wife, 

 proved the good genius of his home. 



Orchids and coloured stars now became the objects of his 

 devotion. In 1875 he wrote : " In enthusiasm, in the zest 

 with which I enter into pursuits, in the interest which I feel 

 in them, even in the delights of mere animal existence, and 

 the sense of the beautiful around me, I feel almost a youth 

 still." 



His latter years were passed in the enjoyment of the new 

 hobbies and of the old ones revived. Butterflies and rotifers 

 again occupied his attention ; and at the close of his career, 

 he had the great pleasure of sharing in the compilation of 

 Dr. Hudson's well-known work on "The Botifera." But 

 the end of his labours was fast approaching. One night, 

 while searching for double stars, he took a severe cold 

 which resulted in his death on August 23rd, 1888. 



His works live after him and in them is found the fullest 

 expression of his mind and character. His reserved and 

 unsympathetic nature made it difficult for him to reveal 

 himself to those about him. His friendships, therefore, were 

 ephemeral. Even Charles Kingsley tired of constant efforts 

 to come into closer touch with one entrenched behind an 

 impenetrable wall of reserve. His peculiar religious views 

 increased his isolation, but all who knew him respected him 

 for his rigid adherence to his sacred beliefs, for his pure 

 hear',, and his reverential faith. 



Of him, as a careful student of the details of science, 

 too much can hardly be said. " His extreme care in 

 diagnosis, the clearness of his eye, the marvellous exacti- 

 tude of his memory, his recognition of what was salient in 

 the characteristics of each species, his unsurpassed skill in 

 defining those characteristics by word and by pencil, his 



