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  OBITUARY. 
  

  

  Robert 
  McLachlan. 
  

  

  This 
  well-known 
  entomologist 
  died 
  at 
  Lewisham 
  on 
  May 
  

   23rd, 
  in 
  bis 
  sixty-seventh 
  year. 
  He 
  was 
  born 
  on 
  Tower 
  Hill, 
  

   wbere 
  bis 
  father 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  pursued 
  the 
  occupation 
  of 
  a 
  

   marine 
  optician, 
  eventually 
  retiring 
  from 
  business 
  with 
  a 
  com- 
  

   petency, 
  which 
  was 
  inherited 
  by 
  his 
  sons, 
  and 
  which 
  enabled 
  

   our 
  deceased 
  friend 
  to 
  escape 
  the 
  cares 
  and 
  responsibilities 
  of 
  

   earning 
  an 
  income. 
  

  

  If, 
  however, 
  he 
  was 
  not 
  a 
  self-made 
  man 
  in 
  a 
  financial 
  sense, 
  

   he 
  had 
  the 
  honour 
  of 
  being 
  largely 
  so 
  in 
  an 
  educational 
  direc- 
  

   tion, 
  for 
  we 
  have 
  heard 
  him 
  remark 
  that 
  had 
  he 
  not 
  studied 
  

   entomology, 
  he 
  would 
  have 
  known 
  no 
  other 
  language 
  than 
  his 
  

   own. 
  We 
  first 
  met 
  him 
  nearly 
  fifty 
  years 
  ago, 
  after 
  his 
  return 
  

   from 
  a 
  voyage 
  to 
  Australia 
  and 
  China 
  in 
  a 
  sailing-vessel 
  

   belonging 
  to 
  the 
  family 
  interest. 
  He 
  had 
  not 
  then 
  prominently 
  

   attached 
  himself 
  to 
  entomology, 
  which 
  he 
  afterwards 
  did 
  while 
  

   enjoying 
  the 
  friendships 
  of 
  J. 
  W. 
  Douglas 
  and 
  the 
  late 
  H. 
  T. 
  

   Stainton. 
  

  

  Robert 
  McLachlan 
  possessed 
  an 
  unique 
  personality, 
  and, 
  

   being 
  of 
  a 
  strenuous 
  disposition, 
  exercised 
  no 
  little 
  influence 
  on 
  

   the 
  course 
  of 
  British 
  entomology. 
  He 
  joined 
  the 
  Entomological 
  

   Society 
  in 
  1858, 
  and 
  subsequently 
  held 
  the 
  successive 
  offices 
  of 
  

   Secretary, 
  President, 
  and 
  Treasurer. 
  In 
  the 
  last 
  position 
  his 
  

   essential 
  business 
  capacities 
  were 
  of 
  real 
  value 
  to 
  the 
  Society, 
  

   and 
  he 
  proved 
  a 
  model 
  Treasurer, 
  who 
  will 
  be 
  much 
  missed. 
  It 
  

   is 
  probable 
  that 
  no 
  member 
  of 
  the 
  Society 
  held 
  a 
  more 
  important 
  

   view 
  of 
  its 
  functions 
  than 
  did 
  Mr. 
  McLachlan 
  ; 
  he 
  was 
  always 
  

   assiduous 
  in 
  his 
  attendance 
  at 
  its 
  meetings, 
  and 
  what 
  was 
  

   remarkable, 
  seemed 
  to 
  know 
  more 
  than 
  a 
  little 
  about 
  every 
  one 
  

   of 
  its 
  members. 
  He 
  was 
  not 
  only 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  founders 
  of 
  the 
  

   ' 
  Entomologist's 
  Monthly 
  Magazine,' 
  which 
  has 
  now 
  reached 
  its 
  

   fortieth 
  annual 
  volume, 
  but 
  he 
  was 
  the 
  guiding 
  and 
  dominant 
  

  

  