XXII 
MEMOIR OF THE LATE 
and then enclosed in an envelope. Dr. Ball, who for years had some of 
those communications almost every week, received one complaining that 
a question in the previous letter had not been answered. On searching 
for the “ letter,” which had been overlooked, Dr. Ball at last found it in 
his pocket-book, between the folds of a bank-note, into which it had 
accidentally dropped, and where, from its diminutive size, it had lain 
concealed ! 
This habit of writing upon scraps of paper, to the great embarrassment 
of editors and printers, is one to which several well-known authors have 
been addicted. We may refer as examples to the “ paper-sparing Pope,” 
whose translation of the Iliad, preserved in the British Museum, is writ- 
ten on the backs and other blank portions of letters ; and to Sharon 
Turner, whose third volume of the “ Sacred History of the World” is 
written on fragments of letters and notes, and on covers of periodicals. 
The first volume of the “ Natural History of Ireland ” appeared in 
1849 ; the second in 1850; the third in 1851. The reviews of it were, as 
might be expected, of a very favourable character ; and letters relating to 
it, from many of Mr. Thompson’s friends and correspondents, afforded 
him much pleasure. He valued very highly the good opinion of those he 
really esteemed. 
The volumes contained a large amount of popular matter relative to 
the instincts, habits, and economy of our native birds, to which they were 
exclusively devoted ; and among these were occasionally interspersed 
graphic descriptions of localities or of picturesque groups, such as Horn 
Head, County Donegal, vol. iii. p. 223. ; Grotto of Egeria, near Home, 
vol. i. p. 367 ; and Grouse Shooting Scenes in the Highlands, vol. ii. pp. 
54 and 55. As might have been expected, they were largely quoted from 
in the periodical literature of the day. Perhaps no one passage was more 
frequently republished than the one (vol. i. p. 11) in which the author 
dwells on the effects produced on the birds of a district by the industrial 
operations of man. 
He had himself expressly stated that the volumes on Birds were “ put 
forward merely as supplementary to the several excellent works already 
published on British Ornithology.” Viewed merely in that light, they 
were welcomed as a very desirable addition to the stores left by preceding 
writers. When considered apart from other works, and simply as an ex- 
ponent of what was known to Mr. Thompson respecting the Birds of Ire- 
land, the philosophic mind found in its pages fresh food for speculation, 
especially concerning those great laws which regulate the distribution of 
animal life. The pains-taking care of its author was visible on every 
page ; and, if some reader should now and then have wished that dates, 
localities, and names were of less frequent occurrence, by others these de- 
tails were regarded as very desirable. To the future explorer of the Na- 
tural History of Ireland, such evidence will be of the highest value. It 
will satisfy him that Thompson has furnished a true record of the Irish 
Birds, as known to him and his correspondents. From the basis thus 
established, he may proceed to rear his structure with perfect confidence 
that he builds on a good foundation, and that, if his own observations be 
correct, and embrace a sufficiently wide range, he may contrast the then 
existing Birds of Ireland with the species which now belong to it. 
It was during the time Mr. Thompson was engaged preparing this 
work for the press, that he became interested in the welfare of “ The 
Belfast-Man ” — Francis Davis — author of “ Poems and Songs,” published 
in Belfast, in 1847. They were composed, as the preface informs us, 
