FREEMAN'S LIFE OF KIRBY. * VITE life of a lesser naturalist,

whose explorations areconfuied to, his own country, is rarely very. eventful ; and that of Kirby is no exception to the rule. For sixty-eight years he resided at the parish of Barham in Suffolk as curate and rector, engaged 'in his duties as minister and in his studies of nature. The incidents of the previous twenty-two years of his life were home training by his mother, who directed his attention to conchology and

botany; at school and Cambridge University, at which litter place he attained no distinction. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary war, he joined Jones of Nayland in the publication of some loyal and religious tracts, suitable to the oc- casion; and he sometimes wrote or began to write theological or

critical _and he was " a scholar and a ripe and good one"; but his life was really devoted to the lesser branches of natural history, more especially entomology. When the Unman Society was established, in 1788, Kirby became one of its members. In 1793 he contributed a paper to the Transactions, and continued communicating. for many years. IA 1802 he published his Mono- graphia Apum Anglia, which at once .established his reputation as an entomologist. In 1808 he began to discuss with his then young-friend Mr. Spence the idea of the Introduction to-Entomo- logy ; the first .volume of which appeared in 1815, and the third and fourth volumes in 1826, when Kirby was approaching seven He was twice married, and survived both his wives; he left no children by either. He.was born in 1759, and died in-I850. Unwearied labour and incessant attention' 'characterized, Kirby'a leng life. Nothing in the shape of insect escaped him. Waiting at an inn, he captured the flies on the panes of glass ; putting on his stocking* in the morning, he devoted Any unlucky victim found upon them to science • and though a man of early hours, he went into the woods at midnight with a lantern to ascertain whethei the, formica rufa really carried on its labours by night. His pen must have been ever at work. He described all he observed and dis- covered in dissection ;, he carried on an extensive correspondence with naturalists,—a closely-written letter on a large sheet of paper (to save postage) extending to a pamphlet ; he kept a diary in dif- ferent languages, generally Latin ; and whenever he made an excur- sion from home he wrote a full account of it, not merely in relation to his more immediate studies of botany and entomology, but to the incidents of his journey, the features of the country, and the ap- pearance of the towns. The letters that passed between him and Mr. Spence amount to nearly a thousand ; the respective contri- butions being about equal. Of this number one half relates to the Introduction ; the preliminary discussions on which, and the ar- rangement of the plan, would form a book of themselves. Such is the labour of those whose heart is in their work.

Kirby's scholarship and piety .gave him an advantage in ento- mology which mere technical science could never have attained. The narrow views of the so-called naturalists of the last century had exposed them to the ridicule of the wits : when Kirby com- menced his labours, floriculture, entomology, and conohology, were especially under ban. By showing the mischief which some in, sects produced, and the benefits derived from others, Kirby gave a character of practical utility to his pursuit. By unfolding the exquisite adaptation of means to ends in insect creation, and showing the boundless extent of life, he was able to enforce the doctrines of what is called natural theology, if not with the terse and clinching argument of Paley, yet with more of genuine humble piety, and in a style which though simple and diffuse was not devoid of vitality and elegance, and it is these things which preserve scientific writings. The discovery of today is superseded tomorrow, but economical and theological illustrations endure. It gave greater force to Kirby's theological expositions that they were not a mere intellectual exercise, but a pious habit of mind—a habit which imparted happiness to his life and cheerfulness to its close. "Mr. Kirby passed the remainder of his days [from 1847] in the retire- ment of his own parsonage. Infirmities slowly but gradually increased upon him. In the spnng of 1850 there were symptoms that the thread of life was nearly spun. For some weeks he was confined to his bedroom; and though suffering at times acute pain, his cheerful habit never forsook him. His favourite topic of conversation was the many blessings he had enjoyed through life, especially in having been allowed to remain so many years in a spot in every way so well suited to his taste."

Mr. Freeman, as a friend and former curate of the entomologist, was by him selected as a kind of literary executor. The whole of Mr. Kirby's papers, as well as many letters from friends, were placed at his disposal for the composition of the biography ; and so minutely full are these, that almost every day of Kirby's life from his settlement at Barham would appear to have

• Life of the Reverend William Eirby, MA., F.R.S., F.L.S., &c., Rector of Bar- ham. By John Freeman, M.A., Rural Dean, Hector of Ashwicken, Norfolk. rd. Lobed by Longman and Co. been laid open beforo him. Tho natural consequence has been, somewhat too much elaboration on subjects not strictly biographi- cal. When the particulars relate to excursions made many years ago, they are pleasant, and even instructive as pictures of the country, of manners, and of the mode of travelling—all now so changed ; but these would have stood better apart as specimens from his manuscripts. The biography of a naturalist should deal only with large results, and not enter into particulars which have no interest for any but entomologists, and to them are often by- gone. These defects encumber the advance of the life ; nor is the writer free from a sermonizing manner, which turns occurrences into a text. The book, however, is a careful and painstaking pub- lication ; exhibiting the genuine and genial antiquarian, and per- vaded by a rural atmosphere such as befits the subject and the scenes in which Kirby passed his days.

The epochs or turning-points of Kirby's life are well indicated in the volume.; especially those which determined his scientific pursuits. We have mentioned the fact of his early training to botany and conchology by his mother. These are the particulars.

" When Mr. Kirby was a very young child, his mother would give hint shells from an old family cabinet to amuse him : the diversity of shape and variety of colour which they presented proved very attractive : he was soon taught to ask for his playthings by their proper names ; then led on to describe with accuracy each shell which he wished for ; next to mark their distinctive characteristics ; and at last to know every shell in the collection, not merely from habitual sight, or from hearing the name repeated, but from intelligent observation. Nor was this method of instruction confined merely to the study of shells; in his walks and childish rambles he was introduced to that family of God's creation the members of which are arrayed with such glory, and clothed with such beauty, that they rival and eclipse the magnifi- cence and splendour of the Eastern monarch. Thus in early life was he led ,o notice perfections unseen by others, and ere long to verify the words of a -modem poet- " That he whose heart will bound to mark

The full bright burst of summer morn, ' Loves too each little dewy spark By leaf or floweret worn.'

"Of the pang and diligence employed by him in the pursuit of botany a very good judgment may be formed from a small herbarium still existing, in which the colours of the flowers are almost as bright as when they were gathered : - it consists of plants gathered in Witnesham in 1770, arranged by his mother; and was fondly -treasured by him as an endearing memento of her who had so bent the tender twig that the growing tree had but to pur- sue the same course in order to bear abundant fruit."

The circumstance which first timed his systematic attention to entomology is thus told by himself. It took place about 1784285. - About half a century since, observing accidentally one morning a very beautifal golden bug creeping on the sill of my window, I took it up to ex- amine it; and finding that its wings were of a more yellow hne "than was common to my observation of these insects before, I was anxious carefully to examine any other of its peculiarities ; and finding that it had twenty-two !beautiful clear black spots upon its back, my captured animal was imprisoned- in a bottle of gin, for tli,a.purpose, as I supposed, of killing him. On the fol- lowing morning, anxious to pursue my 'observation, I took it again from the gin, and laid it on the window-sill to dry, thinking it dead; but the warmth of the sun very soon revived it ; and hence commenced my farther pursuit of this branch of natural history."

The following is a picture of the parish in which Mr. Kirby began to reside at twenty-two, and passed nearly the whole time usually allotted to man.

"The locality and general features of the parish were not without their influence upon Mr. Kirby's mind, as he oftentimes avowed : indeed, these, and the early kindness shown him, were a never-ending theme of conversa- tion with him, and when referred to would call forth from him the deepest expressions of gratitude. It was at. once a cheerful and convenient spot ; the parionage-house, 'parva sad apta,' standing in a meadow five miles from Ipswich and three miles from his father's residence. The scenery around had many charms for one who possessed a mind that could be amused and exhilarated by the contemplation of the beauties of nature ; for the country, in its general aspect,'is wooded and well cultivated, with undulating and broken ground at intervals : it abounds, too, in sequestered nooks and shady lanes, for which this part of Suffolk is.justly celebrated, and which make up in some measure for the bolder and more striking landscapes of other coun- ties. The soil in the course of a moderate walk passes through various changes of sand, gravel, chalk, and clay ; presenting an ever-varying field for flowers, and consequently for insects, which make them their habitation or their food. The streams and ditches of the low meadows abounded with the yellow iris, the purple loose-strife, and the fragrant spine; and the banks of the canal amused and charmed the stroller with the beauty and elegance of the brilliant dragon-flies and the skimming pats. The gravel supplied the plants which despise the thirsty nature of their neighbours by the stream; the woods abounded with the orchis, the blue-bell, anemone, and a host of plants which provoke observation even in a mind of moderate inquiry. Here bees and butterflies, beetles and ants, spiders and other insects, are found in so many forms, that it would exhaust a life before it could be said that all had been entered upon the naturalises catalogue. It is true, no country is destitute of beauty and of interest to those who seek for and mark the traces of unerring skill and wisdom •, but this was a neighbourhood peculiarly felicitous for such a mind as Mr. Kirby's to receive its early lessons. The foregoing remarks are almost in his own words, when musing on the blessings by which his long life had been surrounded."

The ltionographia Apum Anglice was published with cuts, which, had the assistance of scientific draughtsmen and engravers been as available then as it is now the author could not have afforded it. He therefore determined to draw and etch the plates himself.

" That much time was absorbed by his early attempts, is very clear from several letters written at that period : nor is it matter of surprise that diffi- culty should have been felt in etching for the first time in a department where clearness and accuracy were above everything necessary. Mr. Kirby had, it is true' been in the habit of committing to paper the appearance of objects which he wished to retain in his memory ; but this was a different thing from making drawings to convey his meaning to others, and that not upon objects viewed as they naturally appeared, but under the influence of powerful magnifiers. I may here remark, that there are in the first volume fourteen plates, containing no less than 404 drawings descriptive of parts of the insects referred to. The execution of these drawings is singularly cha- racteristic; the outline hard and distinct, without an attempt at shadowing or softening of any kind. Although this may be regarded as a defect by

many, yet we may safely say that for clearness and perspicuity they would be patterns for some of our modern draughtsmen."

The following account of his mode of proceeding in the pursuit of insects, and his subsequent arrangement of them, is from the pen of his coadjutor Mr. Spence ; who contributes the chapter re- lating to the Introduction to Entomology.

" The first was the little parade of apparatus with which his extensive and valuable acquisitions were made. If going to any distance, he would put into his pocket a forceps-net and small water-net, with which to catch bees, flies, and aquatic insects ; but in general I do not remember to have seen him use a . net of any other description. His numerous captures of rare and new Coleoptera were mostly made by carefully searching for them in their haunts, from which—if trees, shrubs, or long grass &c.—he would beat them with his walking-stick into a newspaper; and collected in this way, he would bring home in a few small phials in his waistcoat-pockets, and in a moderate-sized collecting-box, after an afternoon's excursion, a booty often much richer than his companions had secured with their more elaborate apparatus.

" The second circumstance in Mr. Kirby's study of insects to which I allude, was the deliberate and careful way in which he investigated the nomenclature of his species. Every author likely to have' described them was consulted, their descriptions duly estimated ; and it was only after thus coming to the.decision that the insect before him had not been pre- viously described that he placed it in his cabinet under a new name. It was owing to this cautious mode of proceeding—which young entomologists would do well to follow—that he fell into so few errors, and rendered such solid service to the science ; and a not. less careful consideration was always exercised by him in the forming of new genera and in his published de- scriptions of new species ; as his admirable papers in the Linnrean Trans- actions amply testify."