48 



3n fIDemoriam* 



NICHOLAS FRANK DOBRfiE. 



(plate VII.) 



Lepidopterists, and indeed naturalists generally, will 

 hear with great regret oi the death on January 8th last, at the 

 advanced age of seventy-seven, of Mr. N. F. Dobr^e, of Beverley. 

 Formerly a regular attender at the excursions of the Yorkshire 

 Naturalists' Union, the older members will remember him 

 as one of the most pleasant and genial of companions in field 

 work ; but it was as an ardent student of the Noctuse of the 

 European fauna, that he was best known throughout the coun- 

 try. Taking but little interest in the other orders of the 

 lepidoptera, he was greatly fascinated by the Noctuae, and 

 especially with the great variation in the forms shewn by the 

 geographical distribution of species throughout Europe, His 

 collection of European Noctuae was known as one of the best 

 in the Kingdom, probably the best private collection, and it 

 is fortunate, especially for Yorkshire lepidopterists, that as 

 advancing years brought a natural diminution in his collecting 

 energy, his generosity prompted him to present the collection 

 to the Hull Museum, where it can now be consulted by anyone 

 interested in the Noctuae. Hull was no doubt chosen for its 

 location, because for many years, and up to the time of his 

 death, he was in business there as a corn merchant. We under- 

 stand too, that Mr. H. B. Browne, M.A., has for a long time 

 been at work on, and has now completed, a manuscript cata- 

 logue of the collection, in which all the varieties are described 

 in detail, and references made to the published figures. This 

 is to be printed shortly, and will of course add to the interest 

 and value of the collection. How closely Mr. Dobree must have 

 studied the Noctuse of his own district of Holderness, a reference 

 to the ' List of Yorkshire Lepidoptera ' will testify. Mr. Dobree 

 took little interest in public work, but at one time was greatly 

 interested in the local scientific societies, and during the years 

 1884-5-6, was President of the Hull Field Naturalists' Society. 



G. T. P. 



Mr. Browne, has kindly supplied the following additional 

 information : — , 



MaturalUt. 



