Notices of New Boohs. 5257 



NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



'Second Supplement to the History of British Birds; being also a 

 first Supplement to the Second Edition.'' By William 

 Yarrell, V.P.L.S., F.L.S. 71 pp., 8vo. 18 Wood Engrav- 

 ings. London : Van Voorst. Price 2s. 6d. 



But a few weeks, it seems scarcely more than days, have elapsed 

 since I received this his last work from its gifted author. He was 

 then in health and spirits, and in the full possession of his mental 

 activity and acuteness ; and now the grave has closed over him, and 

 one of the most upright, well-informed, kind-hearted and industrious 

 of men has taken a last long leave of the scenes which he loved 

 so well, and of which he was so distinguished an ornament. He 

 died as he lived. His last act was to leave his home in order to 

 accompany an invalid friend to Yarmouth. The voyage was accom- 

 plished in safety, and Mr. Yarrell retired to bed full of life and appa- 

 rent happiness: he had not long lain down when he felt a difficulty 

 in breathing : he thought the hand of death was upon him : he rang 

 the bell, and calmly indicated to the person who answered the sum- 

 mons his belief that his end was near. A medical man was speedily 

 in attendance, — attendance, alas ! unavailing ; for the spirit of our 

 great British naturalist was passing in peace from this world to the 

 next. It is not my province to give any sketch of the history of such 

 a man : that duty is in abler hands ; and, moreover, his real history is 

 to be found in the £ British Birds ' and ' British Fishes,' — works which 

 from the moment of their appearance stood at the head of their 

 respective subjects. His age was 72, and his vigour and usefulness 

 were unimpaired to the last. 



His remains were buried in the churchyard at Bayford, and the 

 following brief inscription will be placed on his tomb. The unosten- 

 tatious quotation from Wordsworth was his own selecting, when on a 

 visit to a relation at Dover, in 1854 : — 



BENEATH LIE THE REMAINS OF 



WILLIAM YARRELL, 



BORN JUNE III. M.DCC.LXXXIV. DIED SEPT. I. M.DCCO.IVI. 



HE WAS THE LAST SURVIVOR OF TWELVE BROTHERS AND SISTERS, WHO, WITH 

 THEIR FATHER AND MOTHER, ARE ALL PLACED CLOSE TO THIS SPOT. 



'•' First anil last, 

 The earliest summoned and the longest spared, 

 Are here deposited."— WORDSWORTH. 



xiv. 2 u 



