Obituary. 
79 
On board the " Flying Falcon," however, a couple of years later, his pro- 
fessional services were very opportunely available to repair a broken rib 
suffered by the leader of the expedition. It is related that on these voyages 
Dr. Ball's enjoyment of tobacco, long after circumstances had deprived his col- 
leagues of any taste for it, excited general envy. On another cruise, when with 
two of his previous companions and a fisherman he shared for some weeks the 
spacious discomforts of life on the " H. R. L.," a small, half-decked fishing 
boat, information was collected to form the basis of the report on the sea 
fisheries of the south and south-west of Ireland published by the Royal 
Dublin Society. 
Always a keen sportsman, it was a grief to Sir Charles when advancing 
years deprived him of the pleasure of tramping over a mountain with his 
gun. On such occasions specimens of the local flora were by no means the 
least considered part of the " bag." He still kept up his interest in sea-fishing 
and angling, and his garden at Killybegs, in the mild climate of the west coast, 
bore witness to his botanical enthusiasm. 
His connection with the Royal Zoological Society has been mentioned 
above. He joined the Council in 1895, and when, having held the Presi- 
dency for a term of five years, he relinquished it in accordance with the 
Society's by-law, the Council paid " a hearty and unanimous tribute to his 
unfailing kindliness to his colleagues, his keen interest in the Society's wel- 
fare, and his zealous efforts on its behalf.'" The hope that he would continue 
to attend often the meetings of the Council was disappointed, for he died on 
St. Patrick's Day, 1916. 
Kindliness was indeed characteristic of Sir Charles. He was unostenta- 
tiously generous, and glad to encourage younger men. His public services 
and professional devotion were rewarded by a knighthood in 1903, a baro- 
netcy in 1911, and other dignities; but the honours on which he himself set 
most store are recorded in the hearts of his many friends. 
C. G. 
IRISH SOCIETIES. 
DUBLIN MICROSCOPICAL CLUB. 
March 8.— The Club met at Leinster House, D. M'Ardle (President) in 
the chair. 
Prof. G. H. Carpenter showed the mandible and maxilla of a mayfly 
larva (Ecdyurus). Attention was called to the resemblance of the mandible 
to that of the Thysanura and of certain Crustacea — also to the fact that the 
cuticle of the next instar in the life-history was already perfectly formed 
beneath the old cuticle, so that the larvae, when killed, was clearly ready to 
undergo a moult. 
