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



Hyndman, Thompson, Patterson, and Getty were busily engaged in dredging 

 operations in and around Belfast Lough ; and on many of their expeditions 

 young Grainger accompanied the party, and his collections were enriched by 

 numerous examples of Mollusca, urchins and starfishes, sponges, Polyzoa and 

 Crustacea ; and many a delightful hour was spent in examining the material 

 brought up by the trawls and dredges, and spread out on the deck of the 

 "Gannet," a small yacht belonging to Edmund Getty, in which the dredging 

 operations were carried on. 



In 1848 he had joined the Belfast Natural History Society, and in 1849, at 

 the request of "William Thompson, he became a life member by the purchase of 

 three shares, and was elected on the Council, a high honour for a lad of 19 

 years. This brought him into still closer connection with the leading Belfast 

 naturalists, and strongly stimulated his scientific tastes. The Council held their 

 meetings at the private houses of the members, and their deliberations appear to 

 hare occasionally been somewhat thirsty work, as the Canon, long afterwards, 

 delighted to tell of a meeting of Council, held at the MacAdams' residence, when 

 the worthy lady of the house protested against having to send 72 cups of tea to 

 the twelve men esconced in the drawing-room ! 



Grainger's first paper was read before the Belfast N.H. Society on his 

 favourite subject of the local post-tertiary beds, the title being " The Shells 

 found in the Alluvial Deposits of Belfast Lough." This paper was read on 

 Wednesday, November 15th, 1848. 



In 1851 the family residence was changed from Marino to Whiteabbey. 



In 1852 the meeting of the British Association at Belfast was an important 

 event among local scientists. Grainger gave a further contribution to the know- 

 ledge of the post-tertiary beds in a paper read before the Zoological Section, of 

 which his friend, Wm. Thompson, was chairman; and at the request of the 

 chairman of the Geological Section, spoke at one of its meetings on the same 

 subject. 



In the same year, in company with some English friends, he made an exten- 

 sive tour round the Irish coasts, visiting Wicklow, Cork, Kerry, the Shannon, 

 Galway and Connemara, Donegal and Derry, the Giant's Causeway, and finish- 

 ing up with Belfast. Each stopping place furnished its quota of specimens, 

 zoological, botanical, or geological. 



May, 1854, saw him on a visit to Folkstone, whence he returned with some 

 rare butterflies and a collection of the fine fossils of the Gault. 



Later in the year he visited Paris, and spent many hours in the splendid 

 museums, and among the botanical treasures of the Jardin des Plantes. 



Meanwhile his college studies had been proceeding steadily. In 1853 he 

 gained Archbishop King's special prize. In the following year he took his B.A. 

 degree, with a silver medal, and then turned his attention to divinity, and 

 finished his course in 1855, when he returned to Whiteabbey. The degree of 

 M.A. was conferred on him two years later. 



