426 [Proc. B.N.F.C, 



His schoolboy friendships were not broken off by his leaving the Academy. 

 Under the somewhat ambitious title of " The Belfast Literary and Scientific 

 Society," weekly meetings were held at Vine Lodge, in a wing that Mr. 

 Grainger had handed over to bis son for the accommodation of his collections, 

 which had already attained considerable dimensions. There, surrounded by 

 fossils, butterflies, and plants, the members of this Society, under a dozen in 

 number met weekly, including the two Taylors, the Montgomerys, James and 

 Archie Lemon, Samuel Ewing, and young Hincks (son of Rev. Archdeacon 

 Hincks, of Culf eightrim) . Here papers were read on various scientific subjects, 

 the more abstruse and debatable the better, and many a hot discussion and 

 bloodless battle raged over the relics of bygone ages and the preserved remains 

 of existing botany and zoology. Of this Society young Grainger was the life 

 and soul, and held the high office of permanent President. 



In 1846 the removal of the family residence to Marino, near Holy wood, on 

 the County Down shore of Belfast Lough, broke off some of the old con- 

 nections, and brought our friend into new surroundings, and among new 

 acquaintances. Mr. Robert Patterson then lived during the summer months at 

 the Crescent, Holywood, and his eldest boys, "William and Robert, were not 

 far from young Grainger's age, and, bike him, devoted to natural history, 

 so they were speedily drawn together by their common interests. John 

 Bristow, now Rev. John Bristow, M.A., had already shown the love for the 

 study of entomology that he has maintained through lif e ; with him our young 

 scientist dug pupse at the roots of the Marino trees, and raced over the Holy- 

 wood meadows in pursuit of some gay butterfly or moth. With the Patterson 

 boys he climbed trees after birds' nests, collected shells on the seashore, and 

 flowers in the woods and glens, and hammered the Carboniferous and Permian 

 rocks at Cultra for fish scales and brachiopods ; and with David Steen, till 

 recently head of the Classical Department at the R.A. Institution, he turned 

 over stones and rotten trees in the search for rare beetles. A short stay at 

 Portrush furnished an opportunity for the inspection of the remarkable raised 

 beach there, and the collection of a representative series of its abundant fossils. 



Being now 17 years of age, his boyish love of collecting had developed into 

 a deep scientific taste for natural history, and he had acquired an excellent 

 knowledge of many branches of zoology and geology. In his scientific studies 

 he derived much assistance from several gentlemen, much his seniors both in 

 years and knowledge, but ever ready to aid whenever required — Thompson, 

 Hyndman, Haliday, and Patterson — a band of naturalists who have left indelible 

 marks in the annals of science, and of whom Belfast may well be proud. 



"William Thompson lived in Donegall Square, where he was diligently col- 

 lecting material for his Natural History of Ireland ; George C. Hyndman 

 in Howard Street, his time being fully occupied by business pursuits ; but as 

 both gentlemen were constant visitors at Mr. Patterson's, young Grainger had 

 the advantage of frequently coming in contact with them. A. H. Haliday, 



