Shoet Notes and Queries. 



11 



in these papers, which cannot fail to be of value to all our societies. 

 According to the new minute of the British Association, both the presi- 

 dent and secretary of any local scientific society, publishing transactions, 

 or in his absence, a delegate representing him, may now be temporary 

 members of the general committee, provided that such representative be 

 a member not an associate of the B. A. , and notice must be sent to the 

 general secretary before the meeting. Mr. Fordham, whose address is 

 Odsey Grange, Royston, Cambridgeshire, will be glad to send copies of 

 these papers to the secretary of any local society requiring them. — Eds. 

 Nat. 



OBITUARY.— By the death of William Talbot, of Mount Pleasant, 

 Wakefield, vvhich took place on Monday, the 22nd of May, Yorkshire 

 naturalists have lost one of their most valued comrades and earnest 

 fellow-workers. For some time past, his health had completely broken 

 down, probably the result of his occupation, so that the sad event was, in 

 a sense, not unexpected. By occupation he was a painter, and he filled 

 the office of master painter to the W^akefield House of Correction so long 

 as it was under the control of the West Riding Justices. On its being 

 taken over by Her Majesty's Government a few years ago, Mr. Talbot 

 was retired on a pension. In his leisure hours he was a keen and ardent 

 naturalist, the special bent of his studies being in the direction of ornith- 

 ology and entomology. In the latter science he formed an extensive 

 collection of lepidoptera, but at the same time he did not neglect to 

 collect specimens in other orders — particularly, hymenoptera, in which he 

 materially assisted the late Mr. Frederick Smith, of the British Museum, 

 both on his frequent visits to the Wakefield district, and by the collection 

 of specimens for him. In ornithology Mr. Talbot will always be remem- 

 bered for his admirable list of the " Birds of Wakefield," published in 

 this journal, and afterwards reprinted as a separate work, copies of which 

 he liberally bestowed upon his fellow-workers. His knowledge was 

 sound, and his experience — the result of many years' field-work — was 

 great. What he knew, he knew thoroughly, and he was never ashamed 

 to confess his ignorance of what he did not know. Socially, he was 

 emphatically one of ''Nature's gentlemen," kind, courteous, and affable 

 to a degree ; a man whom it was a pleasure to know, and whose friend- 

 ship was something worth having. Of the West Riding Consolidated 

 Naturalists' Society we believe that he was virtually the founder, but at 

 all events he took an active part in its formation, and throughout its 

 existence he was one of its steadiest and most loyal supporters. He 

 showed a Hke interest in the movements which led to its reorganization 

 under the title of " Yorkshire Naturalists' Union," in 1877, and was 

 unanimously selected as the first president of the Vertebrate Section of 

 the Union, an office which he held for a year or two. We believe the last 

 meeting of the Y.N.U. that he attended was the one at Barnsley and 

 New Park Spring, on the 12th of June, 1880, since which date he has 



