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Rh in any way anatomically. We shall remain on psychological ground, and we shall think ourselves called upon only to conceive the instrument which serves the psychic activities somewhat after the manner of a compound microscope, a photographic or other similar apparatus. The psychic locality, then, corresponds to a place within such an apparatus in which one of the primary elements of the picture comes into existence. As is well known, there are in the microscope and telescope partly fanciful locations or regions in which no tangible portion of the apparatus is located. I think it superfluous to apologise for the imperfections of this and all similar figures. These comparisons are designed only to assist us in our attempt to make clear the complication of the psychic activity by breaking up this activity and referring the single activities to the single component parts of the apparatus. No one, so far as I know, has ever ventured to attempt to discover the composition of the psychic instrument through such analysis. I see no harm in such an attempt. I believe that we may give free rein to our assumptions provided we at the same time preserve our cool judgment and do not take the scaffolding for the building. As we need nothing except auxiliary ideas for the first approach to any unknown subject, we shall prefer the crudest and most tangible hypothesis to all others.

We therefore conceive the psychic apparatus as a compound instrument, the component parts of which let us call instances, or, for the sake of clearness, systems. We then entertain the expectation that these systems perhaps maintain a constant spatial relationship to each other like the different systems of lenses of the telescope, one behind another. Strictly speaking, there is no need of assuming a real spatial arrangement of the psychic system. It will serve our purpose if a firm sequence be established through the fact that in certain psychological occurrences the system will be traversed by the excitement in a definite chronological order. This sequence may experience an alteration in other processes; such possibility may be left open. For the sake of brevity, we shall henceforth speak of the component parts of the apparatus as "Ψ-systems."

The first thing that strikes us is the fact that the apparatus


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426 composed of Ψ-systems has a direction. All our psychic activities proceed from (inner or outer) stimuli and terminate in innervations. We thus ascribe to the apparatus a sensible and a motor end; at the sensible end we find a system which receives the perceptions, and at the motor end another which opens the locks of motility. The psychic process generally takes its course from the perception end to the motility end. The most common scheme of the psychic apparatus has therefore the following appearance:

But this is only in compliance with the demand long familiar to us, that the psychic apparatus must be constructed like a reflex apparatus. The reflex act remains the model for every psychic activity.

We have now reason to admit a first differentiation at the sensible end. The perceptions that come to us leave a trace in our psychic apparatus which we may call a "Memory trace." The function which relates to this memory trace we call the memory. If we hold seriously to our resolution to connect the psychic processes into systems, the memory trace can then consist only of lasting changes in the elements of the systems. But, as has already been shown in other places, obvious difficulties arise if one and the same system faithfully preserves changes in its elements and still remains fresh and capable of admitting new motives for change. Following the principle which directs our undertaking, we shall distribute these two activities among two different systems. We assume that a first system of the apparatus takes up the stimuli of perception, but retains nothing from them—that is, it has no memory; and that behind this there lies a second system which transforms the momentary excitement of the first into

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Page talk:Dictionary of National Biography volume 08.djvu/393

the OCR was unusable, so I replaced it from:
 * http://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofnati08stepuoft/dictionaryofnati08stepuoft_djvu.txt

-Arch dude (talk) 02:29, 23 June 2012 (UTC)


text:
God Send Us Men (unsourced)

God send us men whose aim ’twill be, Not to defend some ancient creed, But to live out the laws of Christ In every thought and word and deed.

God send us men alert and quick; His lofty precepts to translate, Until the laws of Christ become The laws and habits of the state.

God send us men of steadfast will, Patient, courageous, strong and true. With vision clear and mind equipped, His will to learn, his work to do.

God send us men with hearts ablaze, All truth to love, all wrong to hate; These are the patriots nations need; These are the bulwarks of the state.

title: God Send Us Men (unsourced)


text:
User talk:Dwijenmahanta

Image File:Dwijen.gif
Wikisource requires all files that are uploaded to have a licence that show that the article is in the public domain in the United States. Also, generally we would request that images be loaded to Commons if they are in the public domain in US and home country. So would you please look to add the template information to the file, the appropriate tag from Help:Copyright tags and whether work can be at Commons. — billinghurst  sDrewth  02:59, 23 June 2012 (UTC)
 * Deleted - no license or response provided in over 3 months. -- George Orwell III (talk) 23:52, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:Dwijenmahanta


text:
Author:George Edward Lodge

Works

 * The story of hedgerow and pond (1911)

as illustrator

 * Hudson, W. H. (1895) British Birds
 * Lilford (Lord) (1895) Notes on the Birds of Northamptonshire and Neighbourhood
 * Evans, A. H. (1899) Birds
 * Baker, E. C. S. (1900) The Indian Doves and Their Allies
 * Smith, R. B. (1905) Bird Life and Bird Lore
 * Kelsall & Munn (1905) The Birds of Hampshire and The Isle of Wight
 * Rothschild, L. W. (1907) Extinct Birds
 * Baker, E. C. S. (1908) Indian Ducks and Their Allies
 * Ogilvie-Grant, WE et al. (1912) The Gun at Home and Abroad
 * Howard, Eliot (1920) Territory in Bird Life
 * Baker, E. C. S. (1921–1930) The Game-Birds of India, Burma and Ceylon
 * Beebe, W (1926) Pheasants, their lives and homes
 * Howard, Eliot (1929) Introduction to Bird Behaviour
 * Meinertzhagen, R (1930) Nicoll's Birds of Egypt
 * Bannerman, D A (1930–1951) Birds of Tropical West Africa
 * Chapin, J P (1932–1954) The Birds of the Belgian Congo
 * Jackson, F J – (1938) The Birds of Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate
 * Howard, Eliot (1940) A waterhen's world
 * Lodge, G E (1946) Memoirs of an Artist Naturalist
 * Howard, Eliot (1948) Territory in bird life
 * Coombes, R A H (1952) Mountain Birds
 * Baxter, E V & Rintoul, L J  (1953) The Birds of Scotland
 * Meinertzhagen, R (1954) Birds of Arabia
 * Bannerman, D A and Bannerman, W M (1958) Birds of Cyprus
 * Meinertzhagen, R (1959) Pirates and Predators
 * Hollom, P A D (1960) The Popular Handbook of Rarer British Birds
 * Mavrogordato, Jack (1960) A Hawk for the Bush. A treatise on the training of the Sparrow-hawk and other Short-winged Hawks
 * Bannerman, D A and Bannerman, W M (1963–1968) Birds of the Atlantic Islands
 * Bannerman, D A and Bannerman, W M (1971) Handbook of the Birds of Cyprus and Migrants of the Middle East
 * Vincent, J (1980) A Season of Birds
 * Fleming, C A (1983) George Edward Lodge - The Unpublished New Zealand Bird Paintings
 * Savory J (ed) (1986) George Lodge, Artist Naturalist

Contributions to The Zoologist
To The Zoologist Lodge contributed:
 * 'Lesser Grey Shrike in Norfolk,' 4th series, vol 6, issue 737 (November 1902), p. 433 (section 'Notes and Queries')

title: Author:George Edward Lodge


text:
Author:Arthur Humble Evans

Works

 * Birds The Cambridge Natural History, Vol. IX, (1899)

title: Author:Arthur Humble Evans


text:
MediaWiki:Editnotice-6

 Please note: Image guidelines

title: MediaWiki:Editnotice-6


text:
Page:Blaise Pascal works.djvu/308

The three marks of religion: perpetuity, a good life, miracles. They destroy perpetuity by their doctrine of probability; a good life by their morals; miracles by destroying either their truth or the conclusions to be drawn from them.

If we believe them, the Church will have nothing to do with perpetuity, holiness, and miracles. The heretics deny them, or deny the conclusions to be drawn from them; they do the same. But one would need to have no sincerity in order to deny them, or again to lose one's senses in order to deny the conclusions to be drawn from them. Nobody has ever suffered martyrdom for the miracles which he says he has seen; for the folly of men goes perhaps to the length of martyrdom, for those which the Turks believe by tradition, but not for those which they have seen.

The heretics have always attacked these three marks, which they have not.

First objection: "An angel from heaven. We must not judge of truth by miracles, but of miracles by truth. Therefore the miracles are useless."

Now they are of use, and they must not be in opposition to the truth. Therefore what Father Lingende has said, that "God will not permit that a miracle may lead into error…"

When there shall be a controversy in the same Church, miracle will decide.

Second objection: "But Antichrist will do miracles."

The magicians of Pharaoh did not entice to error. Thus we cannot say to Jesus respecting Antichrist, "You have led me into error." For Antichrist will do them against Jesus Christ, and so they cannot lead into error. Either God will not permit false miracles, or He will procure greater.

title: Page:Blaise Pascal works.djvu/308


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Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/109

Rh to the dead Maury, a man whose name and memory will live in all civilized countries on the globe, throughout all time, as an original, great mind.

After Maury left here, I drew up a caption, heading several papers as a memorial to Congress, asking them to enact a law and appropriate funds to carry out (which is now being done) Maury's plan. This was sent to him at Washington by me, approved and returned. I then sent to each important city upon the lakes (eight of them this city included), to the marine inspectors, procured the signatures of all prominent men, and then forwarded to each member of Congress representing the districts.

These memorials asking for the enactment of the law, and the appropriation of the money, I think, did not pass in the winter of 1858-59; but I have been told that the interest excited in the plan at that time by one person (who followed it from its conception) resulted in its ultimate passage and the present system.

What called out this letter specially from Maury was this. General, then Captain, Meade, had just assumed the command of the "Survey of the N. W. Lakes," succeeding Macomb. There had always been a jealousy between the army and navy, and there was particular jealousy because of the prominence of Maury, in being so constantly noticed by the eminent and titled men of the Old World. Some articles (not emanating from Meade—he was too good and too noble a nature to do such things) called in question the necessity of Maury's doing anything of the kind, as Captain Meade had provided for a full working of all observations needed, to begin with the opening of navigation, and to extend all over the lakes. I cut out the articles and sent them to him (Maury) at Washington, without comment, and that called out the enclosed letter. Colonel Graham had charge of the public works at Chicago at that time. He and Meade are now both dead. . . Things have changed, but I could not rest unless I told someone that the late M. F. Maury was the originator in design and detail, in all its parts, of the present system of meteorological observations now so generally taken all over the country. "Honour to whom honour


text:
Page:The Hudson.djvu/29

And musing here this quiet morn, I call up pictures, far away, Of fountains where thy wave is born, Of rills that in deep shadows play;

title: Page:The Hudson.djvu/29


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Page:The Hudson.djvu/31

 Of forest, trail, and lake, and stream, Rich poems bound in green and gold, Whose leaves reflect the autumn gleam, Ere summer months are growing old;

Of camp-fires bright with dancing flame, Where dreams and visions floated free, And Rosalind with Annie's name Interpreted the dreams to me.

Lake Avalanche, with rocky wall, And Henderson's dark-wooded shore, Your echoes linger still, and call Unto my soul for evermore!

Tahawas, rising stern and grand, "Cloud-Sunderer," lift thy forehead high, Guard well thy sun-kissed mountain land, Whose lakes seem borrowed from the sky.

O Hudson, mountain-born and free, Thy youth a deep impression takes, For, mountain-guarded to the sea, Thy course is but a chain of lakes.

title: Page:The Hudson.djvu/31


text:
Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/110

96 is due." You see in what a beautiful way he gives the credit to Mr. Calhoun as the originator of the army plan, which was continued down to the breaking out of the late civil war; that part of it alone is of great interest, and there are but few people who have the knowledge of these facts.

When the National Board of Trade met here some two or three years since, I published in the Courier parts of Maury's letter. There was a Committee appointed on the subject of meteorological observations, and I thought it a good time to give this forth—in part. Not long before General Meade died, he was spending a few days at my house. I showed him Maury's letter; he was much pleased, and wanted me to publish it as a subject of national interest; but I am accustomed to mind my own affairs only, and I did not do it. But now both are dead, I give it to you on account of your relationship. There are other letters here from M. F. Maury, referring to his thoughts upon this subject, but none so full, and he only wrote to one other person here. . . Respectfully yours,

On December 14th, 1880, Mr. Vest of Missouri said, in a speech before the 46th Congress, 3rd Session:—

"The whole signal service system of this country originated with the navy, not with the army. The man who commenced it, in whose brain it first had existence, was Matthew Fontaine Maury. In 1853 he instigated and brought about, by own individual exertions, the assembling of a convention of scientists of the world at Brussels, to take into consideration a uniform system of meteorological observations. In 1857 I well recollect that Lieutenant Maury passed through the South and West, delivering lectures at his own individual expense to the people, urging upon them that they urge their members of Congress to establish a signal service observation system for the Southern and Western States. If that had been done then, sir, millions of dollars would have been saved to the agricultural interests of this country.


text:
Author:Frederick William Frohawk

Works

 * (in six volumes, published 1896-1898).
 * Natural History of British Butterflies (1914)
 * The Complete Book of British Butterflies (1934)
 * Varieties of British Butterflies (1938)
 * Varieties of British Butterflies (1938)

Works about Frohawk

 * review of (volumes i, ii and iii):

title: Author:Frederick William Frohawk


text:
Page:A Life of Matthew Fontaine Maury.pdf/111

Rh "This same man, by his system of research upon the ocean, by shortening the days of transit by means of his charts of the waves and of the winds, saved to the commerce of the world from $40,000,000 to $60,000,000 annually, and he sought earnestly, by stirring up the people, by writing and lecturing in the North and West and South up to the Fall of 1860, and again after the war to within three months of his death, to put the same system into existence within the landed domain of the United States."

Early in 1858 Lt. Maury had produced such an impression by his lectures and writings in the North-West, that no less than eight of the lake cities, Buffalo amongst them, memorialized Congress in the same year to "establish a general system of daily telegraphic reports on the wind and weather, for discussion at a central office"! . ..

The law thus prayed for was not passed by Congress at that time; but it has been since, and under its fostering care has grown into the "vast weather bureau" of the present day. It will scarcely be believed, that in the history of that grand work the name of its illustrious founder is not mentioned, thus fulfilling his prophetic fear. And today, although almost every one in the civilized world listens to "the thunder," no one remembers where to "look for the lightning." Rh


text:
User talk:222.127.42.37

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to Wikisource! Thank you for your contributions. I hope you like the place and decide to stay. Here are a few good links for newcomers:

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title: User talk:222.127.42.37


text:
User talk:210.212.237.209

Hello, and welcome to Wikisource. We appreciate your contribution, but it unfortunately does not seem to be appropriate for Wikisource. Wikisource is a collection of previously published texts. If the page you contributed does not meet these requirements, it will be deleted shortly. Thank you. Beeswaxcandle (talk) 06:29, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:210.212.237.209


text:
User talk:Almonroth

Welcome
Welcome

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Again, welcome! Beeswaxcandle (talk) 06:37, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:Almonroth


text:
Author:John Gerrard Keulemans

Works

 * (in 7 volumes, 1885–1897)

title: Author:John Gerrard Keulemans


text:
Author:Frederick John Gillman

Works

 * God Send Us Men (1909)

Compiler

 * The Fellowship Hymn-Book (1908)

title: Author:Frederick John Gillman


text:
User talk:NormAllen~enwikisource

— billinghurst  sDrewth  07:35, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

Your account will be renamed
Hello,

The developer team at Wikimedia is making some changes to how accounts work, as part of our on-going efforts to provide new and better tools for our users like cross-wiki notifications. These changes will mean you have the same account name everywhere. This will let us give you new features that will help you edit and discuss better, and allow more flexible user permissions for tools. One of the side-effects of this is that user accounts will now have to be unique across all 900 Wikimedia wikis. See the announcement for more information.

Unfortunately, your account clashes with another account also called NormAllen. To make sure that both of you can use all Wikimedia projects in future, we have reserved the name NormAllen~enwikisource that only you will have. If you like it, you don't have to do anything. If you do not like it, you can pick out a different name.

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title: User talk:NormAllen~enwikisource


text:
User talk:Harry the Goose

— billinghurst  sDrewth  07:45, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

I am moving the scan File:Kerfol - Wharton.pdf to Commons, as generally that is the place for all files so they can be used cross-wiki. — billinghurst  sDrewth  07:45, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:Harry the Goose


text:
Author:John Francis Coffee

Works

 * Forty Years On The Pacific (1920)

title: Author:John Francis Coffee


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III


text:
Author:Frederick Courteney Selous

Works

 * Travel and Advenure in South-East Africa, 1893

title: Author:Frederick Courteney Selous


text:
Memoir of the Late William Thompson, Esq., President of the Natural and Philosophical Society of Belfast

MEMOIR OF THE LATE WILLIAM THOMPSON, ESQ., PRESIDENT OF THE NATURAL HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF BELFAST.

A "WISH has been expressed by some of the personal friends of the late William Thompson, that this volume should contain a biographical notice of his life and labours : in deference to the desire so expressed, the pre- sent memoir has been prepared. It is brief, for his was a quiet and uneventful life ; no " stirring incidents by flood or field" have to be recorded ; nor difficulties long encountered and successfully overcome. It is brief for another reason: his letters do not in general contain those outpourings of thought or sentiment, those revelations of the inner man, which to reflective minds are even more interesting than the open and noon-day occurrences of the outward life. To his most intimate friends, his correspondence, though frequent, was of the briefest possible kind. Such letters do not furnish the biographer with materials likely to be of general interest; and remarks on persons or occurrences, made on the impulse of the moment, and transmitted in the full confidence of private friendship, should not, we think,be torn from their shrines, and exposed to public comment.

Our author, born 2nd of November, 1805, was the eldest son of a Belfast merchant, then extensively engaged in the linen trade; and, being intended by his parents for the same business, he received such an education as was at the time considered suitable for commercial life. In 1821 he was apprenticed to a highly respectable firm in the linen business, the staple trade of the North of Ireland. The senior partner of that firm, himself a keen sportsman, has survived the subject of the present memoir, and is not unfrequently referred to in the volumes on " The Birds of Ire- land," as an authority on their habits.

A gentleman who was then in the same counting-house, and is now a merchant resident in Belfast, has kindly communicated some particulars respecting Mr. Thompson's habits and tastes at this period of his life. According to him, Thompson never showed any great inclination for business, but while engaged in it his habits were strictly methodical.His leisure hours were chiefly spent in rural walks, in which this gentle man, though ten years his senior, was frequently his companion. He adds that he was fond of reading poetry, particularly the works of our great Dramatist.Information still more detailed and more ample respecting the same period, has fortunately been obtained from one who had been Thompson's chosen playmate in childhood, his comrade at school, his companion in the same office when at business, and his friend in maturer years. This gentleman, Mr. William Sinclaire, had emigrated to America with his family, a few years prior to Mr. Thompson's death. When this little memoir was contemplated, application was made to him for reminiscences of the character and habits of his departed friend during the early period of his life, and he was more especially requested to give such particulars as he could furnish, as to the period when a fondness for Natural History pursuits first became apparent. To this request he had the kindness to reply, in two letters so creditable to himself, and so highly characteristic of his friend Thompson, that they are given almost entire.

LETTER I.

West Hoboken, N. J.,

January 26, 1853.

" The death of my poor friend in his very prime gave me much sorrow, and it was so little anticipated, that I could hardly realize that William Thompson was dead. I shall do everything in my power to elucidate the life of my oldest friend, even from his boyish days.

" William Thompson and I were at school together for several years, during all which time he never evinced the remotest taste for those pursuits to which he devoted himself with such ardour at an after period, and he passed through the different branches of an education, such as it was in those days, with nothing more than average ability, nothing very brilliant, and in no respect ever dull. In regard also to the various sports and pastimes common to boys at that period, he never showed much aptitude, especially for such as required much muscular exertion. After leaving school, and in, I should think, his sixteenth year, he came into my father's office to learn the linen business, which I had been at some time previously. Here he came into immediate contact with my ornithological pursuits, the taste for which was, I may say, in me decidedly innate, as my earliest perceptions were drawn towards the flights of swallows as seen from the nursery windows, where I have spent many an hour in the summer evenings of my earliest days. At the time above alluded to I had commenced forming a collection of stuffed birds, and an old edition of ' Bewick's British Birds,' which was lent me by Dr. Drummond,, was at the time in my office drawer, and at all leisure moments in constant use both for study and reference ; it was therefore a very natural consequence that W. T., who was my sporting companion, should take some interest in the pursuit he saw me attending to with considerable ardour, and when the spoils of the day were brought home he began to be interested in identifying the species acquired ; and the above volume of Bewick, with its beautiful and characteristic illustrations, gradually brought about in my friend a taste for birds, so that he then purchased a more recent edition of the work in two volumes, which thenceforth became our only work of reference. At this period, and for two or three years, he spent the summer in Holywood with the family, coming up to town every morning for business during the day, and returning in the evening for dinner. During the autumn he was in the habit of shooting along the shore in the early mornings prior to coming up to town, and the various species of ' Grallatores ' which at that season visit Belfast Lough were constantly acquired and identified from Bewick upon coming to the office ; and I well recollect the interest taken in a very rare species killed one morning, the description of which was given to me, and the bird to have been brought the next day for preservation, when judge of the vexation of both of us at the miserable fate of the much-prized species, it having been plucked and cooked ere my friend's return in the evening! During this time my collection was going on, and W. T. began to have a few species preserved, which he had himself procured ; I had previously given him lessons in the manual operations necessary for stuffing birds, but he never liked the trouble, especially the soiling his fingers, and I well recollect his first visit to a bird preserver in Belfast, to have stuffed a very fine heron which he shot ; the bird being unwieldy from its great length of neck and legs, he did not like carrying it through the streets in the day-time (I may observe that in youth he was naturally shy, and did not like to attract personal notice), so we deferred our visit till evening, when we started with the bird for Nicholl's, who then lived in North Street ; it was carried by my friend, holding it by the legs, and in order to prevent the head coming in contact with the ground, it had to be held so high, that even under gas light it became a most conspicuous object, and in passing along the streets attracted universal attention, and even remark, to the very great annoyance of poor T., and I am sorry to add to my great delight, suggesting that probably the amazement of the spectators was caused by the length of legs of both parties, viz., T. and the heron. That excursion was a standing joke in the office for many a day, and always taken by T. with the most imperturbable good nature."

LETTER II.

West Hoboken, N. J.,

February 9, 1853.

"Our various sporting and ornithological pursuits then went on for several years, up to the summer of 1826, when my friend made a tour upon the Continent ; he was at that time so conversant with the birds of  his own country that he made notes in regard to various species met with abroad, some of which are adverted to in his work on the ' Birds of Ire- land.' I think I was at this time a member of our Natural History Society, which I well recollect urging him to join, without at that time success ; he had not yet become enthusiastic enough in the pursuit, and was, as I remarked before, rather shy and diffident. From this time, for several years, he hunted regularly a good deal with me, seldom missing a day when the hounds were out ; these were favourable opportunities for making ornithological observations, and our notes were frequently compared in the evenings as to the birds seen by either or both during the day ; he had great power of sight, and nothing escaped his keen observation. As an instance of his power of vision, I may mention that he could distin guish the pole erected on the top of Devis mountain, above Belfast, when leaving Lurgan on horseback to return home. About this time he displayed a considerable inclination for planting trees, and had a most correct taste for landscape gardening. He was well acquainted with the forms and peculiar habits of growth of all our forest trees, both indigen- ous and exotic. He planted many various species at the family place in the country, and, had he ever gone there to reside permanently, would have beautified it much by his taste in this department of rural pursuits.

Up to the years 1830 and 1831, his taste for Natural History was more that of an amateur than a scientific naturalist, and he had every intention of pursuing the business to which he had been brought up ; but in these years circumstances of a domestic nature occurred which had the effect of altogether changing his intentions with regard to business, and in fact to make him give it up entirely. This was the pivot upon which his future life turned, and I am satisfied, had matters then gone on as he wished, we should never have heard of him as a naturalist. But such not being the case, and his mind being of such a cast that frivolous pursuits had no charm, he began in real earnest to devote himself to the investigation of the Natural History of his native country ; and you will observe, that with few exceptions all his observations date from 1832.* *It was in the month of June this year, in company with Mr. Hyndman, that he made his first Natural History excursion to Strangford Lough, County Down, where he visited many of the islands. Scenes which were at that time known but to a few of our countrymen, and those belonging to the wealthier classes, are now visited annually by thousands, and are more familiar to tourists than many parts of these kingdoms. From this period up to the time of my leaving Ireland, he and I were in the constant interchange of thought in regard to ornithological observations, and he was always most particular in noting down at the time anything new that I might have observed in our favourite branch of Natural History ; and the frequent allusions to the ' Falls ' in his works, always recall something to my mind probably long forgotten. Many a pleasant ramble he and I have had together ; one of our favourite excursions was to Colin Glen, entering at the foot and ascending to the top of the glen ; every foot of the way would be subjected to his indefatigable research ; the heaps of fallen leaves would be our ' diggings,' and were as carefully searched for land shells, as ever were the golden lands of Australia or California for that treasure, the love of which ' is the root of all evil.' The trees and rocks afforded lichens, the sandstone its fossils, while overhead among the foliage not a bird could open its mouth, without note of observation on our parts. Sometimes the top of Colin, and at others that of Devis, would be our aim ; if in summer, the golden sunsets as seen from the latter, when the orb of day would slowly descend beyond the waters of Lough Neagh, were to rny friend inexpressibly charming ; he saw nature with a painter's eye and a poet's soul, and the apt quotations from our best poets, which were always so ready, would be given with great expression. I cannot recall those days without much sorrow for his loss ; I still looked forward to a period when I might again revisit my nativ'e land, and the most pleasing anticipation was that of again rambling to some of our former haunts, and living over again the days of our youth or early manhood : that vision has faded, never to reappear."

The usual length of an apprenticeship to business — five years — was completed by the subject of the present memoir early in 1826.That year was a memorable one in the life of Mr. Thompson, then in his twenty-first year. In the spring he set out on his first visit to the Continent, accompanied by his friend and relative, the late George Langtry, junior, Esq., of Fort William, Belfast. Their route lay through Holland and Belgium, thence by the Rhine to Switzerland, Rome, and Naples ; returning homewards by Florence, Geneva, and Paris. Travelling was in 1826 a slow and expensive procedure, compared with what it now is. During Mr. Thompson's tour, which occuped four months, he was daily in the habit of noting down the leading incidents of his journey. These memoranda are occasionally copious, but in general they are very concise. They bear intrinsic evidence of being written on the spur of the moment, and do not embody in a narrative form the details of personal adventure and dialogue, nor discussions on habits and manners, remains of antiquity, nor works of art.

From some interlineations obviously added at a later date, it would, appear probable that the author had intended at some future period transcribing into a more regular and extended form the rough notes of his original diary. If such was his intention, it was never fulfilled. To him the hurried jottings of the note-book would have been replete with meaning, rich in pleasant memories and bright associations. To others they are little more than a list of places and objects — sketches of scenery enjoyed — an enumeration of paintings visited — and occasionally a brief phrase expressive of admiration and delight.

We have read this journal with much interest, not for the sake of any information which it contains respecting the localities visited, but because of the manifestations it affords of the mental characteristics of the author. It furnishes examples of the habits of obsei'vation and the modes of thought by which he was afterwards distinguished. To those who knew him well, it likewise evinces his quiet humour, his appreciation of art, and the spring of poetic feeling which throughout life was ever welling up, amidst all his devotion to science. But while the journal presents these attractions to the members of the family circle and a few attached and intimate friends, it did not seem to be such as would warrant publication. As a guide-book it is out of date, and the facts which it contains have been told by a hundred other writers. We felt convinced also that no one would have shrunk more sensitively than Mr. Thompson himself, from the idea of giving to the public the crude and hasty notes jotted down by him more than a quarter of a century ago. The first and the concluding paragraphs may, however, be given, as embodying the dates both of his departure from Belfast and his return.

" I commence this journal with the idea, that in after years I will read it over, and think upon it, as on a lovely dream never to be realized.

" On Sunday morning at nine o'clock, 21st May, 1826, left Belfast in the Chieftain S. P. for Liverpool. Sailing down the Lough, the shore on every side looked as beautiful as a fine summer day could make it, and when opposite Donaghadee the waters assumed the most glassy smoothness I ever witnessed. Our vessel stopped here to land a party of pleasure ; all the boats of the town, that were scattered around us, in an instant ceased their motion, and nothing was heard in the intervals of our music ceasing, but ' the light drip of the suspended oar.' The waters lay calm and motionless as the sky above them, so that we could neither distinguish where the one terminated, nor where the other commenced, which made the vessels at a distance appear as if suspended in air."

The journal concludes thus : —

" 20th September. — At three we set sail from Liverpool in the Chieftain, and after a delightful passage occupying seventeen hours, landed upon ' mine own, my native land,' about eight o'clock, on Thursday, 21st September, having been absent (since 21st May) within a few minutes of four months."

Some time after his return he commenced business on his own account, with the intention of ultimately occupying the bleach-green at Wolf-hill, where his father had carried on a trade extensive for those days. The linen trade at that time was conducted in a different manner, and on a very different scale, from what it now is. Mr. Thompson for a time went on successfully, in proportion to the amount of capital employed. A change, however, took place, some losses occurred, and by these and other circumstances he was induced to abandon the idea of continuing in business. From this period science became not only the pleasure but the occupation of his life.

In 1826 he had been prevailed on by his friend the late Dr. Jas. L. Drummond, founder of the Natural History Society of Belfast , to become a member of that body. In the ensuing year, 1827, he was appointed a member of the Council. In that year, on the 13th of August, he read his first paper, choosing for his subject " The Birds of the Copeland Isles," situated at the entrance of Belfast Bay. He was chosen one of the Vice-presidents in June, 1833 ; was elected President in 1843, on the retirement of Dr. Drummond, and was annually re-elected during the remain- der of his life, a period of nearly nine years.

In 1827, when Mr. Thompson visited the Copeland Isles, he made a few notes of some of the objects observed. This was a commencement of a series of memoranda botanical and zoological, remarkable both for their extent and their minuteness. Every locality visited furnished a supply of fresh materials, all of which were carefully preserved. When the time came for putting them in order and arranging them as scientific communications, they were carefully winnowed, and every grain of value which they contained was transferred to its fitting place, with all those details which authenticated the accuracy of the record. Twenty-four of those journals are now in possession of the editors. Some of them occupy but two or three pages ; others extend to many sheets. They refer principally, as might be expected, to Irish localities, visited in the course of successive tours, or made the place of sojourn during a few weeks or months in the summer or autumn. But they are not limited to these ; they refer to some of the loveliest and most romantic English scenery, and also to portions of that of Scotland, especially of Ayrshire, Inverness-shire, and the islands of Islay and Skye. The last of these journals was written at Newcastle, County Down, in the autumn of 1851, and consequently but a few months before his death.

During this long period of years he gave great attention to specific distinctions, and was gifted with an eye quick in detecting their existence. It was a natural result, that he would soon be able to detect species which science had not yet named or described, and others well known but unrecorded as Irish. Having satisfied himself of the accuracy of the facts, the next step was to impart a knowledge of them to his brother naturalists, by communications to different Societies and to scientific periodicals. He first came forward in this way in 1833, by submitting to the Zoological Society of London some notes on the Sterna arctica, and other birds observed in Ireland. In 1834 he contributed a paper to the same Society, which appeared in their Proceedings ; and another to the Linnaean, the substance of which was published in the London and Edinburgh Philosophical Journal of that year. His first appearance as a contributor to the Magazine of Natural History, whose pages he enriched with many vakiable articles, took place in 1836, and did not cease until a few months prior to his death.

The London men of science were not slow in appreciating the value of these papers on the Natural History of the Sister Isle, nor the unassuming worth of the yoimg Irishman who was their author. The consequence was, that acquaintance thus commenced ripened in many instances into permanent friendships. What wonder, then, that an annual visit to London should be one of Mr. Thompson's greatest pleasures ! There he mingled with that variety of intellectual fellowship which the great metropolis alone can afford. There he not unfrequently had difficulties removed and doubts cleared up, such as every Naturalist who critically examines species has at times experienced. To London he brought for comparison, specimens which seemed to him ill-defined, and which could not be satisfactorily determined, except by reference to books and spe- cimens which were not accessible in a provincial town. The meetings of the London societies, the conversaziones where the devotees of science, of literature, and of art mingle so happily together, had peculiar attractions to a refined and cultivated mind such as Thompson possessed, and which was not narrowed by a too exclusive attention to one pursuit. He took pleasure in every ennobling eff'ort of the intellect, in the fair creations of the artist — the bright imaginings of the poet, in every discovery within the wide domain of physical science, and in the applications of its laws to lessen the labour or minister to the happiness of man.

From about the year 1833 he went steadily on recording the occurrence of species previously unknown as Irish, and gradually accumulating the materials for a Fauna of Ireland. As his labours became better known, correspondents in every province of Ireland sprang up, and information of the most varied character poured in upon him. This was sifted with exemplary care. Questions were asked, and if not answered with sufficient perspicuity, new interrogatories followed, until his own mind was perfectly satisfied as to the accuracy of the statement. It occasionally happened, that the communication related not to something in relation to the habits of a well-known species, but to the capture of a species which was either rare or known only as the denizen of other lands. In such cases he sometimes did not rest content, until he had the opportunity of examining the specimen, and determining the species by actual inspection. That being done, then all details were given, especially the date, the locality, and the name of the correspondent to whom he was indebted for the information. Detached observations, each separately of little account, assumed a new character when combined, and bearing the stamp of his scrutiny and approval. Parties residing in widely scattered localities felt gratified at their observations being permanently embodied in Mr. Thompson's papers, and were thereby stimulated to co-operate by every means in their power. Thus a body of observers sprang up, who made choice of Mr. Thompson as the channel for what they wished to announce, in connexion with the Natural History of Ireland ; and never was such assistance more scrupulously acknowledged than by him. Perhaps no one of his mental characteristics was more uniformly manifested than his anxious desire to record any assistance he had received, and to express his gratitude for facts communicated or specimens sent for his inspection.

In the busy community amid which Mr. Thompson lived, he was the only one who was devoted to Natural Science, and whose time was so entirely at his own disposal as to be given up to its cultivation. Among the professional men, the merchants and manufacturers of Belfast, with whom he mingled, he stood in this respect alone. To him, therefore, all intelligence was brought of natural objects possessing either rarity or interest in the neighbourhood. To men of all ranks, thus calling to impart information, he gave a courteous reception ; to none more so than to the young. Many will remember the searching cross-examination to which, on such occasions, they were subjected.

The labours in which Mr. Thompson was engaged for more than twenty years of his life were not those which were obvious and external.To many a toiling mortal in his native town, he must have appeared to be one of those favoured individuals who have nothing to do. Yet few were more industrious, or more persevering in the execution of his self-appointed task. Every hour in the day had its allotted duty. For four hours after breakfast he was engaged in scientific research, preparation for the press, or in correspondence. Exercise for two or three hours followed. The interval between dinner and tea was given to the lighter literature of the day, and when the claims of local societies and social intercourse left him free, the study was again the scene of two or three hours' additional work ere bed-time. Such was the ordinary routine of his life, subject only to occasional interruptions of a local or personal nature.

Not only did each day present in some respects a general resemblance to other day's, but the very years of his life, for a long period, had a great uniformity of character. With spring came a visit to London — then a sojourn with the family at the sea-side — in the autumn a little tour with some friend — an attendance on the meeting of the British Association for Science, or an excursion to shooting quarters in Scotland. The month of November found him settled once more at home, and resuming the daily routine of occupation already mentioned. Throughout life he took pleasure in field sports ; and for many years went out regularly to hunt during the season.

It would not serve any useful purpose to endeavour to trace in detail the incidents by which one year was distinguished from another; we pass on, therefore, to the year 1840, in which, at the Glasgow meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Mr. Thompson's " Report on the Fauna of Ireland — Division Vertebrata," was brought forward. This was not merely an enumeration of the vertebrate animals of Ireland ; the comparative abundance or scarcity of particular species, and their distribution in that island, so far as it had then been recorded ; but it was also an exponent of the number of species inhabiting this the most western land of Europe, compared with those known as British, and in some instances with those of continental countries. The knowledge acquired during many years of careful observation and patient research were here embodied in a manner the most simple and perspicuous. It was justly characterized by Prince Charles Lucien Bonaparte as " a valuable and lucid essay, which faithfully exhibits the subject, and seems worthy of imitation."* " Report on the State of Zoology in Europe, as regards the Vertebrata, read at the third meeting of the Italian Congress of Science, Florence, 1841."Published by the Ray Society. London, 184.').

The ensuing year brought with it to Mr. Thompson a change of scene, and an abandonment for a time of all the established routine of occupation. Early in 1841 his friend Captain Graves, of H.M. surveying ship, the Beacon, then laid up at Malta, paid a visit to Belfast. Acting in conformity with that devotion to science by which he had been ever dis- tinguished. Captain Graves took measures to obtain from the Admiralty, for Mr. Edward Forbes — the late (alas ! that we should have to speak of him as the late) eminent Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh — the honorary appointment of Naturalist to his vessel, then about to proceed to the Aegean. A survey of the Island of Candia was at that time in contemplation. On his arrival in Belfast, Captain Graves kindly invited Mr. Thompson to join the party, and succeeded in inducing him to do so, as a most welcome guest.

In consequence of these arrangements, Mr. Thompson and Mr. Forbes left London together on the 2nd of April, 1841, and proceeded by Paris and Marseilles to Malta, where the Beacon then was. On the 21st of April they embarked, reached Navarino on the 28th, and anchored at Syra on 6th of May. Leaving the vessel there. Captain Graves and Mr. Thompson, on the 11th of May, embarked in the French steamer Sesostris, for Smyrna and Constantinople. On their return, a few days were spent by the three friends together in the Beacon, and in short excursions connected with the surveying work that was in progress. Mr. Thompson then started on his return homewards, accompanied by Mr. Wilkinson, son of the British Consul at Syra. They reached Athens on the 12th of June, Trieste on the 18th, Venice on the 30th. Thence Mr. Thompson's route was by Milan, Constance, Strasburg, Manheim, Cologne, and Antwerp, reaching London on the 19th of July, after an absence of about three and a half months.

The first fruit of this voyage was a paper published in the Annals of Natural History, and afterwards reprinted in the Appendix to the Birds of Ireland. It was entitled, " Notice of Migratory Birds which alighted on, or were seen from, H.M.S. Beacon, Captain Graves, on the passage from Malta to the Morea, at the end of April, 1841." It enumerates twenty- three species, seen under those circumstances, and is valuable because of the critical knowledge and accuracy of the observer, and its bearing on a question of popular interest, which cannot be better stated than in the words Mr. Thoiupson has himself employed. "Persons even of education," says he, " still exist who are incredulous respecting the fact that many species which in summer frequent the British Islands, winter south of the Mediterranean, and cross that sea annually on their northern migration in the spring ; but surely the fact of twenty-three of them having been seen crossing the Mediterranean during several successive days in spring, and all flying northward, should be a conclusive proof; in addition to which it may be stated, that migratory species only were observed."

During this tour a journal had been regulai'ly kept by Mr. Thompson.It is much fuller and more carefully written than the journal of 1826. Fifteen years had passed since his former visit to the continent, and had brought with them the ordinary amount of change. On a part of the route traversed in either going or returning, steam had been at work, and old modes of conveyance had been superseded. Some of the scenery had been modified in its character ; " formal " vineyards had replaced on the banks of the Rhine much of its natural planting ; and wood had been cleared away even in the proximity of the ruined castles. " Thus," he remarks, " are they divested for the sake of gain of their richest charm. Were Byron now to write of them he could not say with truth, Where ruin greenly dwells,' though when I was last here, the expression was strictly applicable." Changes had in some cases taken place in the con dition or in the habits and customs of a community. Thus, in Venice, as the journal informs us, " The gondolas are greatly changed for the worse since 1825, the fine steel front being now only seen on old ones ; the modern are simply bound with polished steel for a protection, and instead of the canopy overhead, a common awning is used, which in some is plain canvas, in others blue and white striped, and a few more tasteful, all as in British boats. In connexion with the fast disappearing gondolas, I could not but think of the changes in Greece and Turkey. Pictorially, it IS a pity that it is becoming a more matter-of-fact world every day, though it is well that the human race is becoming daily more and more one great family. In the evening I saw a few gondolas, each rowed by two livery servants (de l'Anglais). I could not hear any songs of gondoliers this time, though in 1826 they were occasionally to be heard."

The changes, however, which the journal indicates as having occurred in the external world, are few compared to those which had taken place in the mind of its author. Fifteen years of the most active period of man's existence had passed by, and had cast their mellowing influence both on his feelings and on his intellect. He had lived during that time among the intelligent inhabitants of his native town, and among the literary and scientific circles of Metropolitan Societies. His reading had not been restricted to Natural Science, but had embraced biography, history, travels, poetry, and the fine arts. The journal in every page indicates his more mature and cultivated intellect; and passages occasionally occur whIch breathe a comprehensive charity for his fellow-men, and a sympatny with their social advancement. There is, too, a discrimination in praise or in censure, which time and experience alone can give ; and a nice perception of beauty in form, outline, colouring, and aerial tint, which mark the artistic eye. To personal friends, therefore, it contains much that is interesting. Yet it cannot be denied that many scenes or incidents which are graphically narrated, are told as well or better by other travellers, such as the ordeal of a Turkish bath— the slave-market at Smyrna— a turtle chase in the Aegean, and the absurd annovances connected with the Lazaretto at Trieste. The journal too is obviously a personal and_ private record, not written with a view to publication. But while the insertion of it as a whole would not seem justifiable or judicious, a few extracts illustrative of the remarks which have just been made,may not appear out of place, especially if they be regarded as revelations made by Thompson himself of his own mind, perceptions, and feelings.

_ Valence to Avignon, April 9th, 1841.—" Never did I see the Almond in flower look so beautiful as to-day, when several large trees in full bloom were in their graceful beauty backed by dark-hued rocks." "Finally, to contrast the scenery of the Rhine and the Rhone, in vine- covered hills they are alike— the rivers are much on a par— the Rhine rather the grander— the Rhone more varied by the hills coming forward and again receding or folding in the most romantic manner back and forward. No verdure from grass or pasture is to be seen on the Rhone banks, the more Southern character of the vegetation being from ferns springing from a sterile soil. The Rhine has its numerous castles, but against these are the snow-clad mountains seen from the Rhone."

May 5th.— " The setting of the sun, as we lay off Syra, was very grand, so many hues as the land displayed I never before witnessed. The island on which he sank was empurpled ; another displayed the ordinary distant blue ; those in the west were tinged with lilac. Immediately in the foreground some little islets looked richly green, and one strongly displayed its grey sterile rocky barrenness. After sunset for some time the hues of earth and sky were still more varied. Syra, which was purple a short time before, assumed a dark rich oil-green, and strongly cut, whilst the water at its base was no less strongly marked."

Syra, May 9th. — " Dined with Mr. Wilkinson, the British Consul. From the balcony of his drawing-room is the finest and most beautiful view I have ever seen from a house situated in a town. It is placed at a great height above the sea, and commands a view over several of the islands, some of them at a considerable distance. The sea is beautifully clear beneath, and several species of fish are seen feeding and gambolling about. The hues of the sea-weed, too, are extremely pleasing to the eye, the rich green of the Ulva so much exceeding that of any plants seen here on land. Just below the balcony fishermen were engaged last night, with torches of pine, spearing the fish that were exposed to view. Here the water is shallow, and the fishermen waded ; whilst further out the sepia or cuttle-fish hunters were engaged, and with a brilliant light placed on a gridiron-like article, placed at the bow of the boat, looked most picturesque."

May 12th. — " At half-past five o'clock we left Smyrna in the Sesostris French steam-packet for Constantinople. The " jable " of green waves up to the quay was precisely as I have seen them represented in some of Claude's paintings, and I think in some of Canaletti's fine Venetian views."

Delos, June 2nd. — " Never was I so struck with the appearance of utter desolation as at Delos. At Rome, Athens, &c., the ruins connect the past with the present and tell the tale of many centuries, but here all is past — there is no present — not a human being claims the island as his home, though still before us are the columns of one of the seven wonders of the world, and well might the temple of Apollo (judging from its ruins) so be called."

Venice, July 2nd. — " Went to church [Santa Maria de Fraria], containing Canova's tomb, the grandest monument I have ever beheld : design and execution are alike most admirable. Opposite to it in the church is the tomb of Titian, with his simple surname inscribed on one of the ordinary floor flags of the building. How strange this seems ! The galleries of Venice teem with his sublime paintings, many of them in colours rich and glowing, as they had just passed from the hands of their great artificer. We are enraptured with them, and pacing over the floor of a neighbouring church, start back with alfright on lifting our foot from a common flag, to find that it rested upon and covered the name of Titian, who sleeps beneath it. In Venice, however, should Titian rest. In many respects is it of high importance that the mortal remains of the workman should thus as it were go hand in hand with his noblest work. Thus are the mortality and immortality of earth a striking lesson ! "

" The first mournful reflections over on visiting such a tomb, do we not feel the bodily and intellectual pulse beat quicker, and urge us on to the best work of which we feel ourselves capable, before we are hidden beneath the flag-stone."

Aldstatten, July 11th. — "The mountain rises steeply from the town, and before proceeding very far, a most grand and extensive prospect was presented. In the immediate foreground on the sloping mountain-side all was of the loveliest Swiss character. Most picturesque cottages with their pretty little gardens and numerous bees'-caps placed against the houses Against one cottage I reckoned fifty of these, of ordinary size each abode with its appliances seemed a little paradise ; everything, toobeing in that order which betokened in their owners, what above all things most delights me, a heart at ease. Such a sight strikes upon the inmost chord of a passing stranger's heart, see it in what part of this world he may.

Appenzel, July 12th.-" The eastern side of the mountain-chain which separates the canton of St. Gallen from Appenzel is a grain, fruit, and vegetable country. On the western side, where it slopes into a great table land, very many square miles in extent, it is meadow or pasture, unbroken by a single patch of grain, vegetables, or fruit. It seemed to me a prac- tical illustration of what should be done the whole world over, the energies of every country being applied to whatever it could do best, and its surplus production exchanged with its neighbours "

The Zoological notes scattered through the journal are few in number. The botanical refer chiefly to the appearance of plants or trees in connexion with their altitudinal range or geographical distribution.Ihe enjoyment which Mr. Thompson experienced in his tour to the Aegean, had like all other earthly pleasures, a certain portion of alloy..n his case, this proceeded principally from his sensitiveness to sea-sickness when on the vessel, and from the heat and vermin in some localities on shore. But he always spoke in glowing terms of the beauty of the classic and historic scenes he had visited, and the kindness not only of his friend, Captain Graves, but of all the officers of the Beacon.

From 1841 to 1843, he was a frequent contributor to the Annals of Natural History and he was steadily preparing his Report on the Invertebrate Fauna of Ireland. This was presented at the Cork meeting of the British Association, in August, 1843; and, to use the words of the Very Rev. the Dean of Ely, was "remarkable for the minuteness and fulness of the inforniation which it conveys." *Vid. address of the Very Rev. Geo. Peacock, D. D.. as President of thr British Association at the York meeting, 1844. At the same meeting, Professor E Forbes, who had returned to these countries, presented his valuable " Report on the Mollusca and Radiata of the Aegean Sea."

The attendance of members and associates at the Cork meeting was un usually small ; but those who compare the number and importance of the papers read in the Natural History section with those at other meetings will find no inferiority there, and will naturally attribute a portion of the success of Section D. to the personal influence and character of Mr Thomson, who acted as its President, and whose courtesy on the occasion was noticed by all. His own communications he compressed into the briefest possible space, so as to give time and opportunity for the reading of those contributed by other members.

At intervals during the succeeding five years, he was engaged in preparing for the press his intended work on the Natural History of Ireland and his writing for the Annals of Natural History, the well-known series of papers on the Irish Fauna. But his labour was liable to many interruptions. Some of these were caused by visitors; some by the arrival of new specimens, or the sending away of duplicates to other Naturalists ; but chiefly by the extensive correspondence in which he was engaged His letters were in general very concise, and went at once right to the subject-matter, in the briefest terms. They often consisted of merely a message or a question, written on a scrap of paper, signed with his initials, 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 written 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 I85I. 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 ojiinion 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 Rome, vol. i. p, 367 ; and Grouse Shooting Scenes in the Highlands, vol. ii. pp. 51 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 Ireland, 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 details were regarded as very desirable. To the future explorer of the Natural 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. " amid the monotonous din of the work-shop," the vocation in which Mr.Davis was then engaged being that of a muslin weaver, " an employment not very remarkable for its remunerative qualities." He now fills the responsible situation of Librarian and Secretary to the Working Classes' Association at Belfast ; and, on being applied to by one of the Editors of the present volume, most kindly forwarded the following letter respecting his intercourse with Mr. Thompson : —


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Rh the handle bar is turned, and although this gyrostatic action helps to maintain the equilibrium of the rider, it is very small in its effect as compared with the linear momentum of the rider and bicycle frame.

Fig. 24 is a top view of an axle and pair of drive wheels of a locomotive rounding a railway curve. The arrow S in the vector diagram represents the spin-momentum of the axle and drivers at a given instant, S' represents the spin-momentum at a later instant, ΔS represents the increment of spin-momentum, and T represents the torque which must act upon the axle because of its precession. To exert this torque the outer rail must push up with an excessive force against the outer driver, or, in other words, the outer driver must be forced downwards against the outer rail with more force than that which is due to the locomotive alone as it is rounding a curve. That is to say, the gyrostatic action of the drivers of a locomotive exaggerates the excess of pressure on the outer rail while the locomotive is rounding a curve.

The most familiar type of boomerang is a pair of crossed sticks twisted very slightly at the ends like the vanes of a windmill. This type of boomerang, which we will call the propeller-wheel type, is essentially similar in its action to the boomerang of the native Australians. The boomerang is thrown through the air with a spinning motion about an axis at right angles to the plane of the crossed pair of sticks, and the peculiar flight of the boomerang is due to the forces exerted upon the boomerang by the air.

Forces are exerted upon the moving boomerang very much as if it were a disk traveling approximately edgewise through the air and forces are exerted upon the boomerang by virtue of its propeller-wheel shape and because of its combined spinning and edgewise motion. The effects of these two sets of forces will be described separately and their combined action will then be made use of in explaining the actual motion of the boomerang.

A disk moving approximately edgewise through the air is in an unstable condition, if the disk starts to glance to one side or the other the air exerts a turning force or torque upon it which tends to turn


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30 where the arrows FF in the top view represent the forces with which the bearings must act upon the engine shaft to produce the torque T.

Fig. 23 represents a penny rolling along a floor. The forces FF in the side view (the tendency of the penny to fall over) constitute a torque which is represented by the arrow T in the top view. This torque produces during a short interval of time an increment of spin-momentum

ΔS which, added to the existing spin-momentum S, gives the resultant spin-momentum S' in the direction of which the axis of the penny is found to be turned. The result is that the penny rolls along a circular path as represented by the dotted curve in the top view, Fig. 23. The wheels of a bicycle exhibit a gyrostatic reaction when


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524

 The sketches at the top were made on November 1, 1907, by Dr. Lowell (on the left), and on November 2, 1007, by V. M. Slipher (on the right). The sketches In the middle were made by V. M. Slipher and E. C. Slipher, on February 27, 1909. The sketches at the bottom by Dr. Lowell and E. C. Slipher, on April 12, 1909.

Light is due to wave-motion of the ether, and ordinary light consists of a mixture of light of various wave-lengths. By means of a prism or grating these are refracted differently and so sifted into a colored ribbon or band, the longer waves lying at the red end of the spectrum, as the ribbon is called, the shorter at the violet. Now the spectroscope is such a prism or grating placed between the image and the observer, by means of which a series of colored images of the object are produced. In order that these may not overlap and so confuse one another, the light is allowed to enter the prism only through a narrow slit placed across the telescopic image of the object to be examined. Thus


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Rh images of what is contained by the slit are presented arranged according to their wave-lengths. In practise the rays of light from the slit enter a small telescope called the collimator, and are there rendered


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III


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70


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72


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v. 22- 5. Its home (ókas) is the Mūjavants, its home is the Mahāvrishas; as long as born, O fever, so long art thou at home among the Balhikas.

6. O fever, trickish one, speak out (?); O limbless one, keep much away (?); seek the fugitive (?) barbarian woman; make her meet a thunderbolt.

7. O fever, go to the Mūjavants, or to the Balhikas, further off; seek the wanton Çūdra woman; her, O fever, do thou shake up a bit (iva).

8. Going away, eat thou thy connection (bándhu), the Mahāvrishas [and] Mūjavants; those [fields] we announce to the fever; others' fields verily [are] these.

9. In another's field thou restest (ram) not; being in control, mayest thou be gracious to us; the fever hath become ready (?); it will go to the Balhikas.

10. In that thou, being cold, then hot (rūrá), didst cause trembling, together with cough—fearful are thy missiles, O fever; with them do thou avoid us.

title: Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/430


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III


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52 themselves and their arrangement are the pattern from which the jaw takes its shape. The teeth in different skulls differ so much, that it is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to "match" a missing tooth in one jaw with a tooth from any other one. The natural teeth then have an individuality in keeping with each particular face, and when they are in good condition and in their proper position, can not but add to the beauty, dignity and symmetry of the face. Three people out of four seem to lack in the proper development of the lower part of the face by reason of defective and misplaced teeth, and weak and ill-developed jaws. Hence we see that the "man of destiny," "the man with firm jaw, who knows his own mind," is presumably one who was made to chew properly in childhood, and was not allowed to wash down his food half chewed, or unchewed by gulps of liquid.

It is not true, that the teeth must fit into the jaws; the reverse is true, the jaws form themselves around the teeth. The bone grows around the roots of the teeth and forms a socket like the mortar or cement around the bricks in a fire-place. This is easily demonstrated; a tooth, for example, can be completely turned round or moved from one place to another, and, as we say, it grows "fast." For that matter, teeth, as is well known, can be extracted, cleaned and put back again, or teeth from one persons mouth can be put into the place of an extracted tooth in another's mouth and become firmly imbedded and do good service for years. The part of the jaw-bone that embraces the roots of the teeth is called the alveolar process, and it continues to grow and harden for some time after the teeth have been erupted, or after


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530

plates were made in like manner on that planet. Now Mars is an object which by reason of its smaller size is twice as difficult a test for rotation in twenty-four hours as Venus. The plates too did not happen to be so good. Nevertheless, on measurement they yielded a result within a twenty-fourth part of what we know to be the Mars day. For we know this time to within the hundredth of a second. Now in consequence of the smaller quantity to be measured an error of 55 minutes in the case of Mars corresponds to one of 31 minutes on Venus. To this precision, then, the day of Venus would have been determined had it been of twenty-four hours' duration.

Another test of like character was forthcoming in Dr. Slipher's spectrograms of the rotation time of Jupiter. Inasmuch as Jupiter's day at the equator is 9 hours 50.4 minutes long, while Jupiter's diameter is some twelve times that of Venus, the precision possible is here thirty times as great. Thirty-one minutes' error on Venus would mean about one minute for Jupiter. The spectrograms did even better than this. The known speed of rotation at Jupiter's equator is 12.63 km.; Dr. Slipher's spectrograms gave 12.62 km., or within half a minute of


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text: Darwinism (Wallace)/Chapter III

title: Darwinism (Wallace)/Chapter III


text: The Natural History of Ireland/Volume 1/Preface


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261

11. Do not thou make them thy companions—the balā́sa, the cough, the udyugá (?); come not back hitherward from there: for that, O fever, I appeal to thee.

12. O fever, together with thy brother the balā́sa [and] thy sister the cough, together with thy cousin the scab (pāmán), go to yon foreign people.

13. The fever of the third day, of two days out of three, the constant, and the autumnal, the cold, the hot, that of the hot season, that of the rainy season, do thou cause to disappear.

14. To the Gandhāris, the Mūjavants, the An̄gas, the Magadhas, like one sending a person a treasure, do we commit the fever.

title: Page:Atharva-Veda samhita.djvu/431


text: Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book V/Hymn 22

title: Atharva-Veda Samhita/Book V/Hymn 22


text:
User:Faizanalivarya

I am mostly active at English Wikipedia.

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Thanks for Visiting and Welcome
Hey, Hi, Welcome to my talk page, feel free to add your comments, I will try to respond as soon as possible you may also contact me on English Wikipedia Talk Page as I am mostly active there.--Faizanalivarya (talk) 11:00, 23 June 2012 (UTC)

title: User talk:Faizanalivarya


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title: Author talk:John Francis Coffee


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text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morton, Thomas (1564-1659)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morton, Thomas (1781-1832)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morton, Thomas (1764-1838)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morton, Thomas (1813-1849)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morton, William


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morville, Hugh de


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morville, Richard de


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morwen, John


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morwen, Peter


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Morys, John


text:
The Natural History of Ireland/Volume 1/The Greenland Falcon

THE GREENLAND FALCON.

 * Falco candicans, Gmel. Linn.
 * Groenlandicus, Turt. Linn. Hancock, Ann. Nat. Hist. vol. v. p. 2, 249.

Is of extremely rare occurrence.

In a letter from John Vandeleur Stewart, Esq., of Rockhill, Letterkenny, dated Feb. 3, 1837, I was favoured with a minute description of a bird in his collection, believed to be an Iceland Falcon, which had been killed when on wing above a rabbit- warren, close to Dunfanaghy, county of Donegal. At a meeting of the British Association held at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in 1838, Mr. John Hancock, of that town, read a paper (admirably illustrated by specimens in various states of plumage) with a view to prove that the Iceland and Greenland Falcons are distinct species. This was subsequently published in the " Annals of Natural History," as above quoted. On referring to the description of Mr. Stewart's bird, I felt certain, that according to the views of Mr. Hancock, it must be F. Groenlandicus, and having submitted the description to him, I had the satisfaction of receiving his testimony to that effect. The specimen is an adult male. Subsequently (in 1842?), Mr. Stewart obtained what he considered to be a young bird of this species, which was shot at Drumboe Castle, in the above named county.

Mr. Hancock kindly replied as follows, on the 1st of March, 1846, to some queries respecting these species : —

"I have had specimens of the Greenland Falcon from both Davis' Straits and Iceland; those from the latter locality were killed in the winter season, therefore I conclude it is only a winter visitant of that country, while those from Davis' Straits were all taken in the summer. I was informed by a captain of a whale-vessel of this port, that he once found the nest of Falco Groenlandicus with young, at Cape Imilie, Baffin's Bay. The Iceland bird appears to be very common in Iceland, from which country I have had a number of specimens, both young and old, and I have an egg from the same place. I have a specimen of F. Islandicus' in its first plumage, which was killed in Yorkshire, March,1847. There was another young bird shot on the North Tyne in January, 1845, which I saw in the flesh : it is now in the possession of Mr. C. Adamson of this place. I only know of one instance of the capture of F. Groenlandicus in this country ; it was a mature bird, and was in the collection of Mr. Ellis of York, up to the time of his collection being sold : it was obtained in Yorkshire, and, to the best of my recollection, was shot about the year 1836. I have no authentic account of either species being taken in Scotland".


text:
The Natural History of Ireland/Volume 1/The Red-footed Falcon

THE RED-FOOTED EALCON.

 * Orange-legged Hobby.
 * Falco rufipes, Besecke.
 * vespertinus, Gmel.

Is an extremely rare visitant.

Its occurrence in Ireland was first noticed, in a communication which I made to the Zoological Society of London (in June, 1835), respecting an immature specimen obtained in the county of Wicklow, in the summer of 1832. This bird was preserved for the collection of T. W. Warren, Esq. of Dublin, by whose kindness it was exhibited on that occasion. The specimen was given to Mr. Warren by a gentleman who shot it in his yard, just as it had pounced at a pigeon of at least its own size, which, with the hawk, fell dead at the one discharge. In March, 1833, Mr. W. S. Wall, bird preserver, mentioned to me, that he had in October, 1830, received a hobby in a fresh state, from Ballyveolan,county of Wicklow. My informant knew the species of birds so well, that the individual in question must doubtless have been either the Falco subbuteo or F. rufipes ; probably the latter, as a flight of them appeared in England that year.

Very few specimens of F. rufipes, — a native chiefly of the more eastern half of temperate Europe, — have been taken in England, and the first on record, was procured in 1830. Their second ap pearance in that country was in 1832, in which year the first mentioned specimen was obtained in Ireland. The species has not been met with in Scotland.


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so fully discussed variation under nature it will be unnecessary to devote so much space to domesticated animals and cultivated plants, especially as Mr. Darwin has published two remarkable volumes on the subject where those who desire it may obtain ample information. A general sketch of the more important facts will, however, be given, for the purpose of showing how closely they correspond with those described in the preceding chapter, and also to point out the general principles which they illustrate. It will also be necessary to explain how these variations have been increased and accumulated by artificial selection, since we are thereby better enabled to understand the action of natural selection, to be discussed in the succeeding chapter.

Every one knows that in each litter of kittens or of puppies no two are alike. Even in the case in which several are exactly alike in colours, other differences are always perceptible to those who observe them closely. They will differ in size, in the proportions of their bodies and limbs, in the length or texture of their hairy covering, and notably in their disposition. They each possess, too, an individual


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84 countenance, almost as varied when closely studied as that of a human being; not only can a shepherd distinguish every sheep in his flock, but we all know that each kitten in the successive families of our old favourite cat has a face of its own, with an expression and individuality distinct from all its brothers and sisters. Now this individual variability exists among all creatures whatever, which we can closely observe, even when the two parents are very much alike and have been matched in order to preserve some special breed. The same thing occurs in the vegetable kingdom. All plants raised from seed differ more or less from each other. In every bed of flowers or of vegetables we shall find, if we look closely, that there are countless small differences, in the size, in the mode of growth, in the shape or colour of the leaves, in the form, colour, or markings of the flowers, or in the size, form, colour, or flavour of the fruit. These differences are usually small, but are yet easily seen, and in their extremes are very considerable; and they have this important quality, that they have a tendency to be reproduced, and thus by careful breeding any particular variation or group of variations can be increased to an enormous extent—apparently to any extent not incompatible with the life, growth, and reproduction of the plant or animal.

The way this is done is by artificial selection, and it is very important to understand this process and its results. Suppose we have a plant with a small edible seed, and we want to increase the size of that seed. We grow as large a quantity of it as possible, and when the crop is ripe we carefully choose a few of the very largest seeds, or we may by means of a sieve sort out a quantity of the largest seeds. Next year we sow only these large seeds, taking care to give them suitable soil and manure, and the result is found to be that the average size of the seeds is larger than in the first crop, and that the largest seeds are now somewhat larger and more numerous. Again sowing these, we obtain a further slight increase of size, and in a very few years we obtain a greatly improved race, which will always produce larger seeds than the unimproved race, even if cultivated without any special care. In this way all our fine sorts of vegetables, fruits, and flowers have been obtained, all our choice breeds


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iv of cattle or of poultry, our wonderful race-horses, and our endless varieties of dogs. It is a very common but mistaken idea that this improvement is due to crossing and feeding in the case of animals, and to improved cultivation in the case of plants. Crossing is occasionally used in order to obtain a combination of qualities found in two distinct breeds, and also because it is found to increase the constitutional vigour; but every breed possessing any exceptional quality is the result of the selection of variations occurring year after year and accumulated in the manner just described. Purity of breed, with repeated selection of the best varieties of that breed, is the foundation of all improvement in our domestic animals and cultivated plants.

Another very common error is, that variation is the exception, and rather a rare exception, and that it occurs only in one direction at a time—that is, that only one or two of the numerous possible modes of variation occur at the same time. The experience of breeders and cultivators, however, proves that variation is the rule instead of the exception, and that it occurs, more or less, in almost every direction. This is shown by the fact that different species of plants and animals have required different kinds of modification to adapt them to our use, and we have never failed to meet with variation in that particular direction, so as to enable us to accumulate it and so to produce ultimately a large amount of change in the required direction. Our gardens furnish us with numberless examples of this property of plants. In the cabbage and lettuce we have found variation in the size and mode of growth of the leaf, enabling us to produce by selection the almost innumerable varieties, some with solid heads of foliage quite unlike any plant in a state of nature, others with curiously wrinkled leaves like the savoy, others of a deep purple colour used for pickling. From the very same species as the cabbage (Brassica oleracea) have arisen the broccoli and cauliflower, in which the leaves have undergone little alteration, while the branching heads of flowers grow into a compact mass forming one of our most delicate vegetables. The brussels sprouts are another form of the same plant, in


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Moseley, Benjamin


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86 which the whole mode of growth has been altered, numerous little heads of leaves being produced on the stem. In other varieties the ribs of the leaves are thickened so as to become themselves a culinary vegetable; while, in the Kohlrabi, the stem grows into a turnip-like mass just above ground. Now all these extraordinarily distinct plants come from one original species which still grows wild on our coasts; and it must have varied in all these directions, otherwise variations could not have been accumulated to the extent we now see them. The flowers and seeds of all these plants have remained nearly stationary, because no attempt has been made to accumulate the slight variations that no doubt occur in them.

If now we turn to another set of plants, the turnips, radishes, carrots, and potatoes, we find that the roots or underground tubers have been wonderfully enlarged and improved, and also altered in shape and colour, while the stems, leaves, flowers, and fruits have remained almost unchanged. In the various kinds of peas and beans it is the pod or fruit and the seed that has been subjected to selection, and therefore greatly modified; and it is here very important to notice that while all these plants have undergone cultivation in a great variety of soils and climates, with different manures and under different systems, yet the flowers have remained but little altered, those of the broad bean, the scarlet-runner, and the garden-pea, being nearly the same in all the varieties. This shows us how little change is produced by mere cultivation, or even by variety of soil and climate, if there is no selection to preserve and accumulate the small variations that are continually occurring. When, however, a great amount of modification has been effected in one country, change to another country produces a decided effect. Thus it has been found that some of the numerous varieties of maize produced and cultivated in the United States change considerably, not only in their size and colour, but even in the shape of the seed when grown for a few successive years in Germany. In all our cultivated fruit trees the fruits vary immensely in shape, size, colour, flavour, time of ripening, and other qualities, while the leaves and flowers usually differ so little that they are hardly distinguishable except to a very close observer.


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iv

The most remarkable varieties are afforded by the apple and the melon, and some account of these will be given as illustrating the effects of slight variations accumulated by selection. All our apples are known to have descended from the common crab of our hedges (Pyrus malus), and from this at least a thousand distinct varieties have been produced. These differ greatly in the size and form of the fruit, in its colour, and in the texture of the skin. They further differ in the time of ripening, in their flavour, and in their keeping properties; but apple trees also differ in many other ways. The foliage of the different varieties can often be distinguished by peculiarities of form and colour, and it varies considerably in the time of its appearance; in some hardly a leaf appears till the tree is in full bloom, while others produce their leaves so early as almost to hide the flowers. The flowers differ in size and colour, and in one case in structure also, that of the St. Valery apple having a double calyx with ten divisions, and fourteen styles with oblique stigmas, but without stamens or corolla. The flowers, therefore, have to be fertilised with the pollen from other varieties in order to produce fruit. The pips or seeds differ also in shape, size, and colour; some varieties are liable to canker more than others, while the Winter Majetin and one or two others have the strange constitutional peculiarity of never being attacked by the mealy bug even when all the other trees in the same orchard are infested with it.

All the cucumbers and gourds vary immensely, but the melon (Cucumis melo) exceeds them all. A French botanist, M. Naudin, devoted six years to their study. He found that previous botanists had described thirty distinct species, as they thought, which were really only varieties of melons. They differ chiefly in their fruits, but also very much in foliage and mode of growth. Some melons are only as large as small plums, others weigh as much as sixty-six pounds. One variety has a scarlet fruit. Another is not more than an inch in diameter, but sometimes more than a yard in length, twisting about in all directions like a serpent. Some melons are exactly like cucumbers; and an Algerian variety, when ripe,


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Moseley, Henry (1801-1872)


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Moseley, Henry Nottidge


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88 cracks and falls to pieces, just as occurs in a wild gourd (C. momordica).

Turning to flowers, we find that in the same genus as our currant and gooseberry, which we have cultivated for their fruits, there are some ornamental species, as the Ribes sanguinea, and in these the flowers have been selected so as to produce deep red, pink, or white varieties. When any particular flower becomes fashionable and is grown in large quantities, variations are always met with sufficient to produce great varieties of tint or marking, as shown by our roses, auriculas, and geraniums. When varied leaves are required, it is found that a number of plants vary sufficiently in this direction also, and we have zonal geraniums, variegated ivies, gold and silver marked hollies, and many others.

Coming now to our domesticated animals, we find still more extraordinary cases; and it appears as if any special quality or modification in an animal can be obtained if we only breed it in sufficient quantity, watch carefully for the required variations, and carry on selection with patience and skill for a sufficiently long period. Thus, in sheep we have enormously increased the wool, and have obtained the power of rapidly forming flesh and fat; in cows we have increased the production of milk; in horses we have obtained strength, endurance, or speed, and have greatly modified size, form, and colour; in poultry we have secured various colours of plumage, increase of size, and almost perpetual egg-laying. But it is in dogs and pigeons that the most marvellous changes have been effected, and these require our special attention.

Our various domestic dogs are believed to have originated from several distinct wild species, because in every part of the world the native dogs resemble some wild dogs or wolves of the same country. Thus perhaps several species of wolves and jackals were domesticated in very early times, and from breeds derived from these, crossed and improved by selection,


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Moseley, Humphrey


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Moser, George Michael


text: Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900/Moser, Mary