WM. THOMPSON, ESQ. xvii 



the professional men, the merchants and manufacturers of Belfast, with 

 whom he mingled, he stood in this respect alone. To him, therefore, all 

 intelligence was brought of natural objects possessing either rarity or in- 

 terest in the neighbourhood. To men of all ranks, thus calling to impart 

 information, he gave a courteous reception ; to none more so than to the 

 young. Many will remember the searching cross-examination to Mhich, 

 on such occasions, they were subjected. ' 



The labours in which Mr. Thompson was engaged for more than 

 twenty years of his life were not those which wei-e obvious and external. 

 To many a toiling mortal in his native town, he must have appeared to 

 be one of those favoured individuals who have nothing to do. Yet few 

 were more industrious, or more persevering in the execution of his self- 

 appointed task. Every hour in the day had its allotted duty. For four 

 hours after breakfast he was engaged in scientific research, preparation 

 for the press, or in correspondence. Exercise for two or three hours fol- 

 lowed. The interval between dinner and tea was given to the lighter 

 literature of the day, and when the claims of local societies and social 

 intercourse left him free, the study was again the scene of two or three 

 hours' additional work ere bed-time. Such was the ordinary routine of 

 his life, subject only to occasional interruptions of a local or personal 

 nature. 



Not only did each day present in some respects a general resemblance 

 to other daj's, but the very years of his life, for a long period, had a great 

 uniformity of character. With spring came a visit to London — then a 

 sojourn with the family at the sea-side — in the autumn a little tour with 

 some friend — an attendance on the meeting of the British Association for 

 Science, or an excursion to shooting quarters in Scotland. The month 

 of November found him settled once more at home, and resuming the 

 daily routine of occupation akeady mentioned. Throughout life he took 

 pleasure in field sports ; and for many years went out regularly to hunt 

 during the season. 



It would not serve any useful purpose to endeavour to trace in detail 

 the incidents by which one year was distinguished from another; we pass 

 on, therefore, to the year 1840, in which, at the Glasgow meeting of the 

 British Association for the Advancement of Science, Mr. Thompson's 

 " Report on the Fauna of Ireland — Division Vertebrata," was brought 

 forward. This was not merely an enumeration of the vertebrate animals 

 of Ireland ; the comparative abundance or scarcity of particular species, 

 and their distribution in that island, so far as it had then been recorded ; 

 but it was also an exponent of the number of species inhabiting this the 

 most western land of Europe, compared with those known as British, and 

 in some instances with those of continental countries. The knowledge 

 acquired during many years of careful observation and patient research 

 were here embodied in a manner the most simple and perspicuous. It 

 was justly characterized by Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte as " a 

 valuable and lucid essay, which faithfully exhibits the subject, and seems 

 worthy of imitation."* 



The ensuing year brought with it to Mr. Thompson a change of scene, 

 and an abandonment for a time of all the established routine of occupa- 

 tion. Early in 1841 his friend Captain Graves, of H.M. surveying ship, 



* " Report on the State of Zoology in Europe, as regards the Vertebrata, 

 read at the third meeting of the ItaHan Congress of Science, Florence, 1841." 

 PnbUshed by the Ray Society. London, 184.'). 



b 



