THE SUBSTITUTE. 
107 
fouud, to Ills surprise, that his fame 
as a collector had preceded him 
thither. At the British Museum 
he found that the intelligence had 
reached them of his recent visit to 
Sir George Strickland’s, and an 
engagement was offered him to go 
out in search of specimens to Cen- 
tral America, which he accepted. 
In corroboration of the state- 
ment that he thus early became 
acquainted with some of the lead- 
ing naturalists, it may he men- 
tioned that Mr. Edward Double- 
day speaks of him in an article on 
Lepidopterous insects in the second 
volume of the ‘Zoologist,’ pub- 
lished in 1844, as “an intelligent 
young man, originally a weaver at 
Oldham, whose zeal for Ento- 
mology carried him out last year 
to the United States.” ■ ^ ' 
He started for Central America 
on the 17th of September, 1844, 
and landed at Belize on the 3rd of 
November. He remained in Hon- 
duras till the latter end of 1845, 
actively engaged in his vocation, 
and in the deadly swamps of that 
country contracted disorders which 
undermined his constitution, the 
immediate cause of his return being 
a sun-stroke at Belize. He was 
eminently successful, how'ever, and 
returned to England, after for- 
warding an extensive and varied 
collection of insects, shells, birds 
and reptiles. His collection in- 
cluded an extensive variety of 
orchideous plants. In this tour he 
also executed several commissions 
for the late Earl of Derby and 
others in live and dead specimens, 
which were added to the already 
magnificent aviary and museum 
at Knowslej'. Some of his collec- 
tion of plants were also presented 
to the Manchester Botanical Gar- 
dens. The chief result of this 
enterprise, however, was the addi- 
tion of many thousand specimens 
to the British Museum. 
In 1846 he went out to South 
America for the Briti?h Museum, 
and travelled in Venezuela, carry- 
ing with him many valuable intro- 
ductions. He was accompanied 
by his brother, Mr. Amos Dyson, 
and they returned after an absence 
of about eleven months, his collec- 
tion on this occasion including a 
great variety of humming birds, 
moths, beetles and shells. 
In the latter part of his life 
Conchology became his favourite 
study, and he has left behind him 
a private collection, numbering up- 
wards of 20,000 shells, many of 
them very rare, and including more 
than 10,000 different species. He 
has also left a large collection of 
birds and insects. These collec- 
tions, it is said, are very valuable, 
and equalled by few out of Lon- 
don,, and it is hoped that an effort 
will be made to secure them for 
some of the local public museums. 
Mr. Dyson succeeded Mr. Louis 
Fraser as curator at Knowsley, and 
he held that responsible situation 
up to the death of the late Earl of 
Derby, when the specimens of 
Natural History collected there by 
that nobleman were sold. Some 
years ago he resided for a time 
with Mr. Cunyfiing, of Gower 
Street, London, and assisted that 
gentleman in the arrangement of 
his extensive collection of shells. 
He was altogether a self-educated 
man, and, notwithstanding early 
disadvantages, his acquirements 
were considerable. His kind and 
gentlemanly bearing gathered 
about him a large circle of highly 
cultivated men, whose esteem be 
