﻿Edward 
  Saunders. 
  

  

  xm 
  

  

  arsenical 
  soap 
  for 
  preparing 
  bird-skins, 
  and 
  how 
  offended 
  my 
  brother 
  was 
  at 
  

   the 
  chemist 
  objecting 
  to 
  giving 
  it 
  to 
  us, 
  as 
  we 
  were 
  too 
  young 
  ; 
  but 
  we 
  got 
  it 
  in 
  

   the 
  end. 
  Edward 
  was 
  then 
  (about 
  1859) 
  going 
  to 
  a 
  small 
  private 
  school 
  each 
  

   day, 
  and 
  as 
  time 
  at 
  home 
  was 
  limited 
  we 
  used 
  to 
  get 
  up 
  at 
  5 
  o'clock 
  each 
  

   morning 
  to 
  divide 
  a 
  collection 
  of 
  dried 
  plants 
  from 
  Scotland 
  that 
  my 
  father 
  

   had 
  given 
  to 
  us. 
  Edward 
  was 
  very 
  keen 
  on 
  grasses 
  and 
  he 
  made 
  a 
  good 
  

   collection 
  of 
  them. 
  It 
  was 
  about 
  this 
  time 
  that 
  he 
  began 
  to 
  be 
  specially 
  

   interested 
  in 
  Entomology." 
  

  

  Edward 
  Saunders 
  travelled 
  abroad 
  a 
  good 
  deal, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  part 
  

   of 
  his 
  life. 
  His 
  round 
  of 
  the 
  foreign 
  museums, 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  types 
  of 
  

   Buprestidce, 
  was 
  far 
  from 
  being, 
  as 
  has 
  been 
  stated 
  (1), 
  his 
  only 
  visit 
  to 
  the 
  

   Continent. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  probable 
  that 
  Wilson 
  Saunders' 
  many 
  interests 
  interfered 
  with 
  

   the 
  claims 
  of 
  marine 
  insurance 
  ; 
  at 
  any 
  rate, 
  the 
  collapse 
  came 
  in 
  1873, 
  

   and 
  the 
  great 
  collections 
  had 
  to 
  be 
  sold. 
  It 
  was 
  fortunately 
  possible 
  to 
  

   preserve 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  from 
  being 
  broken 
  up. 
  Of 
  these, 
  the 
  greater 
  part 
  

   are 
  at 
  Oxford, 
  although 
  important 
  groups 
  are 
  in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum 
  (N.H.) 
  

   and 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  Mr. 
  J. 
  J. 
  Joicey. 
  Edward 
  Saunders, 
  who 
  had 
  

   entered 
  his 
  father's 
  office 
  in 
  1865, 
  had 
  henceforth 
  to 
  depend 
  upon 
  his 
  own 
  

   exertions, 
  and 
  could 
  only 
  devote 
  himself 
  to 
  science 
  in 
  his 
  scanty 
  leisure. 
  

  

  A 
  paper 
  on 
  " 
  Coleoptera 
  at 
  Lowestoft," 
  published 
  when 
  he 
  was 
  16, 
  in 
  

   the 
  first 
  volume 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Entomologists' 
  Monthly 
  Magazine 
  ' 
  — 
  the 
  journal 
  

   he 
  was 
  to 
  edit 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  30 
  years 
  of 
  his 
  life 
  — 
  marked 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  

   his 
  life-work 
  in 
  insects. 
  He 
  soon 
  began 
  to 
  specialise 
  in 
  the 
  Buprestidce, 
  

   continuing 
  to 
  publish 
  papers 
  on 
  the 
  family 
  up 
  to 
  1874, 
  the 
  classical 
  

   ' 
  Catalogus 
  Buprestidarum 
  Synonymicus 
  et 
  Systematicus 
  ' 
  appearing 
  in 
  1871. 
  

   Before 
  he 
  had 
  finished 
  with 
  this 
  group, 
  he 
  was 
  bringing 
  out 
  notes 
  on 
  the 
  

   British 
  Hemiptera, 
  followed 
  in 
  1875-6 
  by 
  the 
  ' 
  Synopsis 
  of 
  the 
  British 
  

   Hemiptera-Heteroptera,' 
  and 
  in 
  1892 
  by 
  his 
  volume 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  subject. 
  

   While 
  still 
  attacking 
  these 
  two 
  distinct 
  and 
  widely 
  separated 
  groups, 
  he 
  

   began 
  on, 
  what 
  was 
  destined 
  to 
  become 
  the 
  chief 
  work 
  of 
  his 
  life, 
  the 
  

   Aculeate 
  Hymenoptera. 
  It 
  cannot 
  be 
  doubted 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  specially 
  drawn 
  

   to 
  these 
  insects, 
  for 
  the 
  reason 
  he 
  gave 
  to 
  his 
  friend, 
  the 
  Bev. 
  F. 
  D_ 
  

   Morice 
  (1), 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  writer, 
  viz., 
  the 
  importance, 
  and, 
  indeed, 
  

   the 
  necessity 
  for 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  structure 
  in 
  the 
  determination 
  of 
  the 
  species. 
  

   And 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  surprising 
  possibilities 
  of 
  the 
  modification 
  of 
  structure 
  which 
  

   prompted 
  a 
  vividly 
  remembered 
  saying 
  of 
  his. 
  We 
  were 
  glancing 
  through 
  

   the 
  boxes 
  of 
  his 
  father's 
  collection 
  at 
  Oxford, 
  and 
  came 
  upon 
  a 
  male 
  of 
  Synagris 
  

   cornuta, 
  L., 
  from 
  Fernando 
  Po, 
  a 
  specimen 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  enormous 
  horn-like 
  

   outgrowth, 
  from 
  the 
  base 
  of 
  the 
  mandible, 
  found 
  in 
  many 
  males 
  of 
  this 
  wasp 
  

   was 
  developed 
  to 
  an 
  extraordinary 
  degree. 
  " 
  Why," 
  said 
  Edward 
  Saunders, 
  

   " 
  it 
  is 
  a 
  biological 
  education 
  to 
  look 
  at 
  that 
  insect 
  ! 
  " 
  (' 
  Beport 
  Brit. 
  Assoc.,' 
  

   1913, 
  p. 
  512). 
  

  

  Then, 
  too, 
  there 
  was 
  the 
  opportunity 
  afforded 
  by 
  the 
  abundant 
  material 
  

   at 
  Beigate, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  Grecian 
  Hymenoptera, 
  many 
  of 
  which 
  were 
  given 
  to 
  

  

  c 
  2 
  

  

  