240 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



a chapter on the Natural History of Kirkcudbrightshire in Maxwell's 

 ' Guide Book to the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright.' Of his memoirs 

 on Mammals, special mention may be made of one entitled " The 

 Old Fur Market of Dumfries," written in 1891, and containing much 

 of interest about the skin trade, the causes of its decline, and the 

 animals that supplied the staple ; and of another, " Mammalia of 

 Sol way " (1896), in the form of an annotated list. The Sol way Area 

 includes Lochs Grannoch and Dungeon, which hold Char, Loch Ken, 

 famous for its large Pike, and Lochmaben, the home of the Vendace. 

 A good deal about these interesting fishes is to be found in Mr. 

 Service's paper, " The Freshwater Fishes of the Solway Area " (1892). 

 He considered the disputes and claims arising out of the Salmon 

 fisheries to be a public scandal, unsatisfactory to everybody except 

 the lawyers, and wrote: — "The late Frank Buckland would have 

 found a very large number of people here to agree with him, if in his 

 famous statement that more lies have been told about the Pike than 

 about any other fish in the world he had substituted ' Salmon ' for 

 'Pike.'" 



Mr. Service took a great interest in the production of Mr. H. S. 

 Gladstone's recently issued book on 'The Birds of Dumfriesshire,' 

 and his co-operation is thus acknowledged by the author in the 

 preface : — " With so many willing assistants it becomes almost in- 

 vidious to mention any by name ; it is, however, quite certain that 

 pre-eminent among them stands Mr. Eobert Service. The frequent 

 mention of his name throughout the volume testifies to my obligation 

 to him, and he has, moreover, helped in the revision of the book in 

 all its various stages." 



We have endeavoured to indicate above the wide range of Mr. 

 Service's knowledge, and the varied nature of his attainments. In 

 glancing through his published memoirs and notes one is especially 

 struck by the fact that whatever subject he was writing on — bird- 

 migration, insect-life, colour variation, the Vole plague, new, rare, or 

 extinct animals, &c. — he always had something to say that w^as well 

 worth saying, and knew how to leave out that which was trivial and 

 unimportant. He was generous with his knowledge, and many knew 

 him as a valued correspondent, who took a delight in giving informa- 

 tion. ^_ ^_ j^_ 



