148 



IN MEMORIAM. 



pelago he amassed a vast store of insects of all kinds, and 

 the entire collection well illustrates the effect of prolonged 

 isolation on certain species, and the modifications they under- 

 go under different local conditions. 



But although Luff was first and foremost an Ento- 

 mologist, he did not shut his eyes to other interesting matters. 

 In the course of business he frequently had opportunities 

 of snapping up unconsidered trifles which would perhaps 

 have been overlooked by the majority of people ; and thus 

 in the course of years he gradually acquired a considerable 

 collection of books, pamphlets, engravings, maps and prints 

 relating to Guernsey and its sister islands. 



It is hardly necessary to mention our friend's official 

 connection with this Society. All the members are aware 

 that at the time of his death he held the office of Honorary 

 Treasurer — a post he had ably filled for a period of over 

 twenty-five years. In 1898 he was unanimously elected 

 President of the Society, and in accordance with established 

 rule he occupied the chair for two years. From the very 

 commencement Mr. Luff was a member of the Council 

 of the Society, and although he rarely spoke much at the 

 meetings, his opinion always carried weight on any subject 

 that was discussed. Everything that he did was always 

 done quietly and without ostentation, for he was by nature 

 gentle, peaceable and diffident to a remarkable degree. Of 

 his private and social life I know very little, although I 

 enjoyed his friendship for over twenty years ; but I should 

 imagine he was a man who never lost a friend or made an 

 enemy. 



The management of a large business left him but little 

 leisure for the pursuit of his favourite study, and yet he 

 always managed to lend a helping hand in any work that had 

 for its object the study of Natural Science. Many a young 

 entomologist owes his early training to the practical instruc- 

 tion given by Mr. Luff during the summer excursions which 

 the Society arranged for the benefit of junior members, and 

 I well remember with what untiring energy he collected the 



