Obituary.

Seeley.—On the 7th January, Mr Walter Seeley, of the publishing firm of Seeley & Co.

Otto.—At Cologne, on the 25th January, Dr Nicol August Otto, inventor of the gas-engine bearing his name.

Reeves.—On 4th April, at Christchurch, aged 66, William Reeves, one of the early proprietors of the Lyttelton Times.

Brady.—In January, Henry Bowman Brady, F.R.S., ll.d., a distinguished zoologist, well known on account of his researches on the Rhizopoda and other forms of invertebrate life.

Self.—On the 30th December, after an illness of nine years' duration, Mr Henry Self, aged 75. For seventeen years—1864 to 1881 —Mr Self held the office of Secretary to the London Society of Compositors.

Waring.—In January, Edward John Waring, M.D., &c., aged 72. He was a writer of voluminous medical books. His Bibliotheca Therapeutica, published in 1869, embodied the results of twenty years' hard toil.

Löwenstein.—On 6th January, at Berlin, Rudolf Löwenstein, founder and for many years editor of the noted German comic paper Kladderadatsch. He was a clever and prolific writer, especially of political ballads, and was often in trouble with the authorities.

Corliss.—Mr Phil Corliss, for seventeen years engaged as accountant on the Post, Wellington, died suddenly on the 17th inst., of internal inflammation. Deceased, who was thirty years of age and unmarried, lived with his parents. He was a native of Auckland.

Silversides.—In December, at Hertford, Mr Robert Silversides, aged 81. For many years he had held the position of manager to Messrs Stephen & Sons, printers, and during the whole of his business life—nearly seventy years—had been in the service of the one firm.

Brontë.—In February, at age of 95, Miss Alice Brontë, sister of the Rev. Patrick Brontë and aunt of the two ladies who have made the name famous. It is not generally known that the family name really was Prunty, and that it was changed by the Rev. Patrick, into what he considered a more aristocratic form.

Close.—Mr Close, of Kirkby Stephen, in the Lake District, well known as the Poet Close, died in February. He had a bookstall at Windermere, where he offered copies of his verses for sale. Lord Palmerston granted him a pension of £50 a year; but owing to the outcry this occasioned it was withdrawn, and a grant of £100 was subsequently made to him out of the Royal Bounty Fund.

Fraser.—Mr T. E. Fraser, printer and publisher, Christchurch, and his family, will have the sympathy of the Craft throughout the colony, in the great bereavement he has sustained in the death of his wife. Mrs Fraser, who had long been a sufferer, passed away on the 26th March. She was a valued and active member of the Baptist Church, and will be greatly missed in the community.

Weatherley.—On the 7th January, at Ivy Dene, Ealing, Mr George Weatherley, aged 36. He was for many years with Cassell's, contributing largely to their serial publications, chiefly poetry, and for a time edited Little Folks. He was known as a songwriter; though not so popular as his cousin Mr F. E. Weatherley. His early death has occasioned much regret, and sympathy for the widow and young family he has left behind.

Latey.—On the 6th January, Mr John Lash Latey, aged 82. Mr Latey had been associated with the Illustrated London News from its establishment in 1842, and held the position of editor from 1858 until his resignation in December last, within a month of his death. He contributed many poems to the Christmas Numbers. He was a Devonshire man, and in early life chose a literary career, though he had strong inducements to join the church. His uncle, the Rev. John Latey, was canon of Bristol Cathedral; his son, Mr John Latey, edits the Penny Illustrated Paper.

Hampden.—In February, at Croydon, Mr John Hampden. This gentleman had a fixed idea that the earth was flat, and pestered periodicals of all kinds with letters on the subject. Some years ago he wagered £100 that levels taken for a given distance along the surface of a canal would prove that the surface of the water was a plane and not a curve. The experiment was tried under most rigid conditions, and Mr Hampden had to pay the £100. Up to his death, however, he was under the hallucination that the gentlemen who conducted the experiment had conspired to cheat him.

Barnum.—In April, Phineas Taylor Barnum, the great showman. He was born in 1810, at Bethel, Connecticut, and early developed remarkable business capacity. At 21 years of age, he was proprietor and editor of the Danbury Herald, of Freedom; in the following year he owned several shows. He made his first great hit in 1842 with Tom Thumb (C. E. Stratford), and his latest in 1881 with the elephant Jumbo. He lectured in London in 1858, and in later years wrote and published several books, chiefly autobiographical. He made a large fortune, and was exceedingly liberal. While glorying in the reputation of being the chief « humbug » of his time, he was a man of strict integrity of character.

McKinlay.—The Melbourne correspondent of the Otago Daily Times writes:—McKinlay, the chief law reporter of the Argus, is dead. He had held the position for twenty-five years. His health broke down some months ago, and he gradually sank. He passed as a barrister so long ago as 1867, and being a reporter before he studied for the law, he was a first-class shorthand writer, so that he combined the two necessary qualifications—knowledge of the law, and reporting ability—in a very uncommon degree. His reports were always accepted by the Supreme Court Bench as absolutely reliable.

Feuillet.—Octave Feuillet, who died on the 30th December, in his 78th year, is described as one of the most cultured and prolific of French novelists—remarkable alike for the purity of his French, and the high tone which prevailed in his works. He was the exact opposite of the realists, and was considered a family novelist. His best known work, the Roman d'en Jeune Homme Pauvre, is used as a text-book in English schools. Anatole France speaks of him as being in some respects one of the last of the classic writers, possessing a style and method which are becoming lost arts. He depicted the luxurious life of the Lower Empire with singular ability, but lived in retirement and quietude himself. He revealed a state of society which was vain, sensual, and brutal, but he and his admirable wife were models of domestic virtue.