XXVI 
MEMOIR OE THE LATE 
science in the metropolis. On one point there is a seeming discrepancy 
in the two journals, one mentioning the Report of the Fauna of Ireland 
as having been brought forward at Glasgow, the other at Cork. Both 
are correct ; the Report on the Vertebrata having been presented at the 
former meeting ; that on the Invertebrata at the latter. 
“We have to record the death of Mr. William Thompson of Belfast, which 
took place very suddenly in London, on Tuesday morning last. Mr. Thompson 
had been visiting our metropolis chiefly with a view to making arrangements for 
the approaching meeting of the British Association in Belfast, — of which he had 
been appointed by the council a Vice-President. Mr. Thompson was well 
known on various branches of Natural History, and one of his works, ‘The 
Birds of Ireland,’ we reviewed so lately as September last. [Athen. No. 1236.] 
He devoted himself principally to zoology — though all branches of Natural His- 
tory and Comparative Anatomy received a share of his attention. Science is 
indebted to him for the ardour with which he investigated the zoology of his na- 
tive country, and the large number of his papers in the annuals and magazines 
of Natural History attest his great diligence in this respect. He was an early 
friend of the British Association for the Advancement of Science ; and, at the 
meeting held at Glasgow, delivered in a Report on the Fauna of Ireland. He 
constantly attended its meetings ; and, subsequently to his Report in 1840, he 
contributed many papers on the Natural History of Ireland. It was owing to 
his efforts that the Natural History section was so remarkably successful when 
the Association met at Cork. His investigations on the Zoology of Ireland were 
subservient to a great work which he had planned on the Natural History of 
that island, and which, had his life been spared, there is no reason to doubt he 
would have completed.” — Athenaeum . 
“ WILLIAM THOMPSON, ESQ. 
“ It is our painful duty to record the death of this eminent and amiable Irish 
naturalist. He had come to London to attend a meeting of the council of the 
British Association, to assist in making the necessary arrangements for the 
forthcoming gathering in the town of Belfast, of which he was so distinguished 
an ornament. On this day week we conversed with him when in good, though not 
robust, health and spirits, little anticipating that before three days we should be 
writing his biography. He died suddenly, after a short and slight indisposition, 
in his lodging in Jermyn Street. Mr. Thompson was born in the year 1805, and 
from his earliest youth was warmly attached to scientific and literary studies. 
For the last fifteen years, or longer, his name has been constantly before the 
world of science in connexion with arduous researches on the Natural History of 
Ireland. The very numerous memoirs published by him, chiefly in scientific pe- 
riodicals, and latterly more especially in the ‘ Annals of Natural History,’ of which 
publication he was a warm admirer and supporter, extend in their subjects over 
all departments of zoology, and several are devoted to botanical investigations. He 
was constantly on the watch for new facts bearing on the Natural History of his 
native island, which, assuredly, could boast of no more truly patriotic son than 
himself. At the meeting of the British Association at Cork, he was appointed 
President of Section D, and conducted the proceedings of his department with a 
judgment and suavity that made them eminently successful. On that occasion 
he read an elaborate Report on the 4 Fauna of Ireland,’ since published in ex- 
tenso in the Association 4 Transactions ; ’ and it was his intention to have com- 
municated a continuation to the present day of that Report at the Belfast meet- 
ing. He did not confine his inquiries to Irish subjects, but added considerably 
to our knowledge of the Natural History of several parts of England and Scot- 
land ; and when Professor E. Forbes proceeded to the ZEgean at the invitation 
of Captain Graves, Mr. Thompson, himself an intimate friend of the distinguish- 
ed officer just named, accompanied him, and devoted the short time he was 
in the Archipelago to interesting zoological observations, since published, chiefly 
