BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIR. 
xix 
less than a national disaster and one which unfortunately was irre¬ 
parable. The fortunate purchaser was Dr. John Wilson, of Philadelphia, 
in which city the collection is still to be found. There was not, of 
course, the same keen interest in Ornithology in those days which marks 
the present era; hut Gould told me in later years that he had never 
intended that the collection should leave the country, and he regretted 
ever afterwards that, in a moment of chagrin at the unexpected refusal 
of his offer to the nation, he accepted Dr. Wilson’s offer and allowed 
his treasures to go to America. It is pleasing to remember how, after 
Gould’s death, the Trustees of the British Museum promptly secured 
his remaining collections of birds and eggs on the recommendation of 
Dr. Gunther. 
In 1840 Gould was elected a Pellow of the Boyal Society, and 
many other honours were bestowed upon him by learned bodies in nearly 
every country in the world. A slight lull in the issue of his publications 
appears to have taken place during the year 1849, while Gould was pre¬ 
paring for still greater enterprises, and he was doubtless occupied during 
1849 and 1850 in preparing for exhibition that wonderful collection of 
mounted Humming-Birds which was to be one of the sights of London in 
the year 1851. His love for Humming-Birds had always been manifested, 
hut the study of this particular group had been held in abeyance during 
the life of his friend Mr. Loddiges, who was a well-known collector 
of these birds. In 1842 this gentleman possessed 196 species; but 
on the death of Mr. Loddiges, Gould turned his attention to the family 
and speedily made a collection which far surpassed anything that 
had existed before in a public or private museum. Having obtained 
the permission of the Council of the Zoological Society, he erected 
a building for the exhibition of his mounted Humming-Birds in the 
Zoological Gardens, and here they were shown during the great 
exhibition year of 1851. The birds were exhibited in twenty-four 
cases, which were the handiwork of Gould himself, and every case 
