336 Obituary Notice of Dr. 0. R. Tate. 



when the flora of China is written, will be a valuable con- 

 tribution towards it ; and this will be, no doubt, his most 

 important service to science. A few butterflies and shells 

 were the only other objects in Natural History that he 

 brought. 



After returning to England he had three months' leave of 

 absence, and then joined a Brigade in the Isle of Wight, 

 where he remained for some time. He married, August 

 2nd, 1866, Miss Way, eldest daughter of David Way, Esq., 

 Afton, Isle of Wight. Mrs Tate was an excellent botanist, 

 and assisted her husband in all his researches and wander- 

 ings after plants. 



Dr. Tate's observational powers appear to have been kept 

 in prompt exercise wherever he moved. In August, 1852, he 

 discovered Asplenium altemifolium on Kyloe Crags, a 

 novelty to that part of the district. It is recorded in the 

 Club's " Proc," Vol. iii., p. 102. He was also fond of angling, 

 and it was while pursuing this recreation on the river Glen 

 that, on the 24th May, 1866, he ascended Yeavering Bell, 

 and re-discovered Pyrola secunda, and also noticed Cicuta 

 virosa in some of the ditches about Ewart. (Club's " Pro- 

 ceedings," v., p. 273). Mr. Baker, of Kew, in a letter 

 says, he spent some months in the Isle of Wight, in 

 1867, and then .enjoyed much of Dr. Tate's company, 

 and that they had several excursions together. " He 

 botanized a good deal in the Isle of Wight, but the ground 

 had been too thoroughly searched for him to add much. 

 The best find he and I made together was Cineraria cam- 

 jpestris, of which there was an old record, but which Brom- 

 field and More had never chanced to meet with. His Isle 

 of Wight discoveries were communicated to Mr. A. G. More, 

 and by him published in his. Supplement to Bromneld's 

 ' Flora Vectensis, ' which came out in our ' Journal of 

 Botany.' " 



He was ordered to Gosport in 1868, and when acting 

 professionally, caught a severe cold, which brought on a 

 disease that quite invalided him and rendered him unfit for 

 duty. He was therefore put on permanent half-pay. From 

 Gosport he returned to the Isle of Wight for a time. He 

 then shifted to Torquay, where he remained for two years, 

 but the climate proved unsuitable to him. He and his 

 family removed to Fareham, in Hants, in 1872, where his 

 health gradually declined. In 1873 he had an attack of 



