74 IN MEMOEIAM. 



up and lecture on some new discovery in science or on some 

 subject attracting public attention and of general interest, 

 we find him in 1896 speaking first on the Rongten X Rays 

 and afterwards on Living Photographs as the "Pictures" 

 of to-day were first named, in 1899 on Wireless Telegraphy, 

 in 1908 on the so-called "Canals" of Mars, and in 1910 on 

 Bailey's Comet, the return of which in that year after an 

 absence of three-quarters of a century (75 years) was 

 exciting world-wide interest and not a little fear in the 

 minds of some people because of injudiciously penned news- 

 paper statements. Illustrating his remarks experimentally 

 and by lantern slides he was always listened to> on these 

 occasions with a keen interest by big audiences. 



In the Spring of 1892, Mr. Collenette delivered a series 

 of three lectures on Guernsey Rocks and What They Teach : 

 Part 1 — Our Past Connections with the Continent; Part 2 — 

 The Coast of France and How we Left it; Part 3 — Our 

 Raised Beaches, or Guernsey above and below Water. Given 

 in February and March, these lectures were afterwards pub- 

 lished in full in the Sun newspaper where they may be re- 

 ferred to< at the Guille-Alles Library by anyone interested 

 in, or studying, the subject. These lectures were followed 

 by another in November, 1893, Submerged Guernsey, which 

 was also published in the Sun, and may be seen at the 

 Library. 



But it was as " weather prophet " th^t Adolphus Col- 

 lenette bulked so largely in the public eye. In his own esti- 

 mation, and quite rightly too, as I think, the issue of a fore- 

 cast of the day's probable weather was of small import 

 compared with the climatic record being steadily built up 

 from the growing years of observation. The public, how- 

 ever, looked to him every morning to say what the day's 

 weather would be, and he did his best (a very good best, 

 as one who knows something of the difficulties by which the 

 " weather prophet" is confronted, can bear testimony) to 

 satisfy the demand. 



In this respect I can well remember the time, now long 

 past, when Mr. Collenette was looked upon as a sort of 

 weather wizard by a section of the community — the more 

 or less ignorant. To them he was a man gifted with super- 

 natural powers, at any rate as regarded the weather. He 

 could look into* the future, so> these people believed, and see, 

 while still a long way off and well beyond everybody else's 

 sight, if rain, or a gale, or a drought, or anything else in 

 the way of weather was making for Guernsey, and his name 

 was mentioned with a certain feeling of awe. 



But we have happily outlived those old days. With the 

 flight of years the superstition died out and in its place, 

 as is the heritage of most public men of note, some " good 



