﻿XX 
  

  

  Obituary 
  Notices 
  of 
  Fellows 
  deceased. 
  

  

  Two 
  years 
  after 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  his 
  residence 
  at 
  the 
  Cape, 
  he 
  began 
  the 
  

   publication 
  of 
  ' 
  Ehopalocera 
  Africse 
  Australis, 
  a 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  South 
  African 
  

   Butterflies' 
  (London 
  and 
  Cape 
  Town, 
  1862-66), 
  expanded 
  in 
  1887, 
  with 
  

   the 
  assistance 
  of 
  Col. 
  J. 
  H. 
  Bowker, 
  into 
  the 
  classical 
  monograph 
  ' 
  South 
  

   African 
  Butterflies' 
  (3 
  vols., 
  London, 
  1887-89). 
  This 
  work, 
  although 
  

   mainly, 
  was 
  by 
  no 
  means 
  solely, 
  descriptive 
  ; 
  for 
  it 
  contains 
  valuable 
  

   introductory 
  sections 
  on 
  Classification, 
  Distribution, 
  Sexual 
  Differences, 
  

   Habits, 
  Protective 
  Besemblance 
  and 
  Mimicry. 
  Under 
  each 
  of 
  the 
  species, 
  

   too, 
  Trimen 
  records 
  the 
  whole 
  life-history 
  and 
  habits 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  they 
  were 
  

   known 
  at 
  the 
  time. 
  The 
  literary 
  grace 
  which 
  distinguishes 
  all 
  his 
  writings- 
  

   is 
  conspicuous 
  in 
  this 
  great 
  work, 
  which 
  must 
  have 
  cost 
  its 
  author 
  immense 
  

   labour. 
  But 
  Trimen 
  always 
  felt 
  a 
  just 
  pride 
  in 
  making 
  his 
  descriptions 
  

   clear 
  and 
  readable 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  precise 
  and 
  accurate, 
  and, 
  when 
  so 
  many 
  

   might 
  have 
  been 
  used, 
  in 
  selecting 
  the 
  right 
  word 
  for 
  every 
  purpose. 
  And 
  

   this, 
  in 
  so 
  full 
  and 
  varied 
  a 
  language 
  as 
  English, 
  must 
  always 
  mean 
  immense 
  

   cave 
  and 
  pains, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  natural 
  gifts 
  : 
  must 
  mean, 
  in 
  fact, 
  the 
  " 
  damned 
  

   hard 
  writing 
  " 
  which, 
  as 
  an 
  author 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  have 
  assured 
  an 
  admirer 
  of 
  his 
  

   style, 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  road 
  to 
  " 
  easy 
  reading." 
  It 
  is 
  in 
  large 
  part 
  a 
  question 
  of 
  

   thoroughness, 
  and 
  Trimen 
  was 
  essentially 
  thorough, 
  in 
  his 
  work, 
  in 
  his 
  

   correspondence, 
  and 
  in 
  every 
  relation 
  of 
  life. 
  

  

  In 
  writing 
  a 
  brief 
  account 
  of 
  a 
  scientific 
  man, 
  and 
  especially 
  such 
  a 
  man 
  as 
  

   Boland 
  Trimen, 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  essential 
  to 
  speak 
  of 
  what 
  he 
  was 
  than 
  of 
  what 
  he 
  

   did. 
  What 
  he 
  did 
  may 
  be 
  found 
  fully 
  catalogued 
  in 
  well-known 
  works 
  ef 
  

   reference, 
  and 
  will 
  always 
  abide 
  in 
  the 
  memories 
  of 
  those 
  who 
  build 
  upon 
  

   the 
  foundations 
  he 
  laid 
  down. 
  So 
  far 
  as 
  they 
  are 
  referred 
  to 
  here, 
  his 
  

   writings, 
  being 
  part 
  of 
  himself, 
  will 
  help 
  to 
  create 
  the 
  picture 
  of 
  what 
  

   he 
  was. 
  

  

  Boland 
  Trimen 
  had 
  an 
  impressive 
  and 
  most 
  pleasing 
  personality. 
  " 
  Besides 
  

   being 
  a 
  man 
  of 
  strikingly 
  handsome 
  appearance 
  — 
  he 
  might 
  have 
  sat 
  for 
  a 
  

   bust 
  of 
  Olympian 
  Zeus 
  without 
  the 
  severity 
  — 
  he 
  ever 
  maintained 
  a 
  grand 
  

   simplicity 
  and 
  gentleness 
  of 
  nature, 
  combined 
  with 
  a 
  charm 
  of 
  manner," 
  

   which 
  can 
  never 
  be 
  forgotten 
  by 
  those 
  who 
  knew 
  him 
  (6). 
  Although 
  a 
  man 
  

   of 
  great 
  and 
  varied 
  gifts, 
  he 
  was 
  always 
  modest 
  and 
  unassuming. 
  Examples 
  

   of 
  his 
  verses, 
  both 
  grave 
  and 
  humorous, 
  may 
  be 
  read 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Bethune-Baker's 
  

   excellent 
  notice 
  (5), 
  but 
  his 
  best 
  work 
  is 
  of 
  too 
  intimate 
  a 
  nature 
  to 
  be 
  made 
  

   public. 
  The 
  extent 
  of 
  his 
  artistic 
  powers 
  would 
  never 
  be 
  realised 
  by 
  a 
  

   study 
  of 
  the 
  illustrations, 
  admirable 
  as 
  these 
  are, 
  contributed 
  by 
  bis 
  own 
  

   pencil 
  to 
  his 
  scientific 
  works. 
  Few, 
  even 
  of 
  his 
  intimate 
  friends, 
  knew 
  of 
  

   the 
  vigour 
  and 
  incisive 
  humour 
  of 
  the 
  cartoons 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  caricatured 
  the 
  

   political 
  situations 
  at 
  the 
  Cape, 
  or 
  of 
  his 
  power 
  as 
  an 
  actor. 
  With 
  his 
  

   versatility 
  and 
  humour, 
  and 
  love 
  of 
  friendly 
  intercourse, 
  Trimen 
  was 
  the 
  

   most 
  delightful 
  of 
  companions. 
  Towards 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  his 
  life, 
  although 
  

   weakened 
  and 
  depressed 
  by 
  illness, 
  he 
  never 
  failed 
  to 
  revive 
  and 
  become 
  

   his 
  old 
  self 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  his 
  friends, 
  and, 
  when 
  many 
  were 
  present 
  — 
  it 
  

  

  