74 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
enabled to follow some independent profession, instead of being bound 
during all his active life by the trammels of office. He doubtless could 
have distinguished himself in almost any line. It was through the in¬ 
fluence of his kind patron, the late Duke of Devonshire, he obtained, in 
1827, the clerkship in the Castle of Dublin, which he retained until his 
superannuation in 1852. A more indefatigable public servant never 
existed, nor one more intelligent and faithful to his trust; and I venture 
to say that there is not a more disgraceful specimen of the bureaucratic 
style than the following sentence:—Mr. Ball is placed on the retired 
list on the ground “that he devoted much attention to scientific pursuits, 
and that it was not expedient that public servants should be thus occu¬ 
pied.’’ Before this time, and subsequently to his superannuation, he 
was busily engaged in other public departments that had not the same 
antipathy to science. In 1851 he was appointed Secretary to the Queen’s 
University; in 1854, Secretary to the Joint Committee of Lectures; in 
1855, Assistant Examiner for Ireland to the Civil Service Commission; 
and he continued this arduous duty till the close of his life. 
He acted as Secretary to the Dublin Zoological Society for more than 
twenty years, and it is mainly owing to his exertions that this useful 
body was kept alive during the years of famine and difficulty, amid the 
apathy of the Irish public. It must have been a heartfelt gratification 
to him to see it placed at last on a secure and firm basis by a small Go¬ 
vernment grant of £500 a year, which it at present receives. 
In 1853 he was the founder of the University Zoological and Bota¬ 
nical Association, which has been so useful a recruiting body of young 
and zealous naturalists. 
Dr. Ball was elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1835, 
and a Member of Council in 1838. He acted for many years, and died 
Treasurer of that distinguished body. 
He was elected a Member of the Royal Dublin Society in 1834, and 
in 1854 a Member of Council; he was also a Member of the Council of 
the Statistical Society from its foundation in 1847. 
He joined our Society in 1835, and was always an active member. 
In 1837 he was elected on the Council, and in 1852, President. We are 
also greatly indebted to him for his unremitting support during those 
dreadful years when society itself seemed rocking at its base. His ex¬ 
tensive knowledge of Natural History was of great value, particularly 
when Palaeontology assumed its proper position as the right-arm of Geo¬ 
logy. His courtesy and affectionate demeanour to all was most remark¬ 
able, and only to be equalled by his great modesty. In the “Journal” 
of our Society he wrote occasionally in illustration of those questions 
where Natural History throws light on Geology; but it is much to be 
regretted that he had so little time and leisure to mature and perpetuate 
the information with which his mind was stored. 
It was chiefly through his exertions that we were induced to offer 
our Collection to the University of Dublin. It now forms the nucleus 
of that noble Museum. Dr. Ball was appointed Curator, and during 
many years devoted a considerable portion of his leisure to its classifi- 
