30 
MEMOIE OF THE LATE EOBEET BALL, LL. D. 
from the interior of the country, and had probably never seen one of 
these animals, he felt some doubt as to how he could convey to them an 
idea of their jelly-like appearance. In summer the shore of the bay 
would have supplied thousands of illustrative specimens, but they were 
not available in November. What was to be done ? He told his diffi¬ 
culty to his friend Ball, at whose house he was then staying, and he at 
once replied, “ I’ll'make you a jelly-fish!” and a capital one he did 
make. From Mrs. Ball’s store-room he brought something which, when 
boiled, furnished a transparent gelatinous substance. Whilst it was 
boiling he cut from the purplish linen covering of one of the children’s 
school-books four pieces which represented the peculiar markings of the 
most common species (Aurelia aurita), poured out the gelatine into a 
saucer, placed the purplish cuttings in their proper relative positions 
ere his cookery had “set;” and thus in an hour he produced an im¬ 
promptu jelly-fish, which answered admirably well the purpose for 
which it was intended. 
He afterwards, by a mixture of gutta-percha and treacle, succeeded 
in making casts of the more common star-fishes, and these, when coloured 
after nature, formed excellent representations of the originals. As such, 
a series of them would have been very useful for school museums, es¬ 
pecially as they had a certain degree of flexibility, and might be handled 
without being injured or broken. 
Any one who has been for some years taking an active part in the 
management of public societies of any kind will call to mind occasions 
when some question of moment divided the opinions of its members, 
and gave rise to animated discussions. When such questions sprung 
up, Dr. Ball never shrunk from the advocacy of his opinions, no matter 
what obloquy might attach to them, or how few might be the number 
of his adherents. In all such cases, “ when the battle’s lost and won,” 
it is best to let its heat and its excitements pass away. But, unfortu¬ 
nately for Ball’s peace of mind, it was not in his nature altogether to 
do so. He was keenly sensitive to any remark that he regarded as un¬ 
true or unkind. To most men these “ paper ballets of the brain” would 
have caused no annoyance; with him it was different. The shaft might 
be a light one; but if it struck him at all, the barb was difficult to 
extract, and left a scar behind. 
Dor the last three years of his life his letters to me were much less 
frequent than formerly. He was, in fact, too much engaged to write 
anything that he could well avoid. His usual period of recreation was 
from 1852 abandoned, and, in point of fact, never did he slave so hard 
as when he was freed from the necessity of attendance in the Secretary’s 
office. During his Castle-life there were six weeks of holiday, which 
the regulations of the office sanctioned, and which he spent in visits to 
Youghal’and other excursions. The bow which had for many months 
been kept in a state of tension was then unstrung, and regained in a great 
degree its natural elasticity; but after his appointment to the College 
Museum a great change took place. These precious holidays were set 
apart for Museum work, and the health-giving period of relaxation was 
