The Annals of Scottish Natural History" for April 1896, by Mr
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RETURN TO LIBRARY OF MARINE BIOLOGICAL LABORATORY WOODS HOLE, MASS. LOANED BY AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY The Annals OF Scottish Natural History A QUARTERLY MAGAZINE WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED Naturalist EDITED BY J. A. HARVIE-BROWN, F.R.S.E., F.Z.S. MEMBER OF THE BRITISH ORNITHOLOGISTS' UNION JAMES W. H. TRAIL, M.A., M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN AND WILLIAM EAGLE CLARKE, F.L.S., MEM. BRIT. ORN. UNION NATURAL HISTORY DEPARTMENT, MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND ART, EDINBURGH EDINBURGH DAVID DOUGLAS, CASTLE STREET LONDON: R. H. PORTER, 7 PRINCES ST., CAVENDISH SQUARE The Annals of Scottish Natural History NO. 25] 1898 [JANUARY THE LATE MORRIS YOUNG, F.E.S. " " READERS of the Annals would notice with regret the announcement of the death of Mr. Morris Young, which took place at Paisley early in the morning of the 26th of February 1897. Mr. Young was born in 1821, and from his very earliest boyhood exhibited qualities which marked him out as a born naturalist. Undoubtedly he was the pioneer in the scientific study of natural history in Paisley, if not in the West of Scotland. When Mr. Young first took up the study of entomology, there were not half a dozen entomologists in the whole of Scotland, and books on the subject were few and expensive, while the best of them were not written in our language. The want of books led Mr. Young to learn to draw, in order to illustrate what he meant in his corre- spondence with other entomologists. In this he was more than successful, for his entomological drawings were perfect both in detail and colour. Books with uncoloured plates which he purchased later in life he often coloured. As the result of an accident which he received while yet a boy, Mr. Young was lame. It is said that, while still unable to move far from the house, he passed his time sitting at the open window with a net, capturing all the insects which came within his reach. In after life this lame- 25 B 2 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY ness did not hinder Mr. Young from active service in fact he could walk with sound-limbed nor it any person ; did daunt his courage. We saw him once rush across the street and rescue an aged clergyman from the abuse of a drunken Irishman and in the woe betide ; Museum, man, woman, or child who misbehaved, for out they went. Being debarred, by reason of this lameness, from entering his chosen pro- fession of medicine, Mr. Young became a schoolmaster. Many men and women still living in Paisley remember being in Mr. Young's day-school in the long ago. They recollect with pleasure how on certain fixed days red-letter days they were to both teacher and scholars a lecture was given on butterflies and moths and other less attractive insects, and with what astonishment they looked upon the wonderful collection which he exhibited to them. At first Mr. Young used to find some difficulty in getting out to collect as early in the morning as he wished. He and a companion hit upon the device of leading a string from his bed, through the window, to the street below. On going to bed at night, Mr. Young tied the string to his big toe. In the morning his friend came along and, pulling the string, awoke him. This, however, did not long work well. Some other companions, having learned the system, rose at un- timeous hours and drew the string, much to Mr. Young's discomfiture. Long before I 860, Mr. Young was well known amongst entomologists in Great Britain and on the Continent as a leading Coleopterist. Among his correspondents such men as Rye, Smith, Wollaston, Murray, and Waterhouse may be mentioned. In Lepidoptera also, he had an extensive knowledge, and possessed a very good local collection. In as a had attractions for him short, Zoology, whole, great ; and as he wandered through our woods and glens, or over the lofty Bens that overlook the estuary of the Clyde, or along the banks of our rivers and lochs, he had ample opportunities of observing the beauties of nature and of learning the many lessons which she alone can teach. In 1862 a few of his scholars and others whom he had interested in his own study formed themselves, under his leadership, into a Natural History Society. They met two THE LATE MORRIS YOUNG, F.E.S. 3 or three times a month in his schoolroom in Old Sneddon for the identification and classification of the captures which had been made in their collecting excursions. To these meetings some of his own cases of insects were brought to help the members in their work. As the result of his exertions, a splendid society of active workers was gathered together. Not one of the members of that early society will soon forget those experiences and the delight and enthusiasm which his untiring efforts infused into them. Many of those members afterwards became known to science as earnest workers. His knowledge of the habits and peculiarities of beast, bird, and insect was simply wonderful, and his clear and enthusiastic observations appeared to the minds of his " hearers more like some story from the Arabian Nights," and could not fail to make lifelong converts to the study he loved so well. This society increased in membership and made great progress, chiefly in entomology, till it was incor- porated with the Paisley Philosophical Society. The meet- ing-place was then transferred to the School of Design Buildings, and every encouragement was given to the members by that wealthy and influential society. Under Mr. Young's direction, lists of the Mammals, Birds, and Insects of Renfrewshire were compiled, and additions were made to these from time to time. In 1867 the Philo- sophical Society held an exhibition of the various collections belonging to the Society and to private members. It was open to the public for a week, and each evening papers on a variety of subjects were given. Mr. Young's large collec- tions of insects nearly filled one of the halls. It was then that the late Dr. Frazer, the president, first intimated the intention of the late Sir Peter Coats to provide his native town with a suitable building as a Museum and Library, for the reception of the vast number of specimens shown in Natural History, Antiquity, and Art. When Mr. Young was unanimously appointed Curator of the Museum in 1871, it was felt that no better choice could have been made. He was not only a man of consider- able education, but was by disposition an enthusiastic naturalist who loved his work. His own collections were at once gifted to the Museum, and he entered with heart and 4 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY soul into the work of arranging and classifying the vast number of natural history objects which were received from many sources. To Mr. Young's indefatigable energy and skill is due the credit of getting together the very fine collec- tion of birds, British and foreign. More than this, he was a very skilful taxidermist, and was able, during his long service of twenty-six years, to save the Museum authorities a great deal of expense. As Curator, Mr. Young had only one day in each week in which to collect, and these days he devoted to the collec- tion of the orders of insects, etc., not represented in the a collection of made a Museum. He added good spiders ; fine collection of fish, mounted in a style peculiarly his own. He took up the various orders of insects Hymenoptera, Herniptera, Diptera, Orthoptera, etc., and the seldom studied branches Anoplura and Mallophaga. His name appears " frequently on the pages of Murray's Catalogue of Scottish " Coleoptera" (1853); Fowler's Coleoptera of the British " Isles" (1887-91); Edward's Hemiptera-Homoptera of the British Isles" (1896), etc.; and he also contributed to numerous scientific journals. Mr. Young was a Fellow of the Entomological Society, but his modesty was such that he seldom used the title. All Mr. Young's energies were expended on his beloved Museum. He looked upon it as his Museum his birds, his insects, his flowers. He was unmarried, but the Museum, with its birds, its beasts, and its plants, and, above all, with its insects, held for him some of the joys which others find in the domestic circle. Like many of the older zoologists, he loved the old ways and the beaten paths, and had very little sympathy with modern scientific theories. With the theory of evolution, for example, and its principles of develop- ment and adaptation to circumstances, he had little patience. The mere mention of Darwin's name to him was like waving a red flag before a bull not that he did not admire Darwin, but because the theory of evolution of which Darwin was the author was to him heresy unpardonable. The meeting of kindred spirits was, perhaps, never better shown than on the introduction of Thomas Edwards, the Banffshire naturalist, and Mr. Young. Mr. Edwards visited THE LATE MORRIS YOUNG, F.E.S. 5 Paisley shortly before his death, mainly to meet our Curator. Edwards was introduced by a mutual friend one morning, and left with Mr. Young, with the strict injunction to mind dinner. Dinner-time came, but no Edwards. Three o'clock, four o'clock, and still Edwards had not come. Edwards's friend now made sure something must be wrong, and off he " " rushed to the Museum, only to find two old men eloquent over bird and beast.