Obituary.

Bush. —At Wanganui, on the 10th May, Henry Bush, compositor, aged 35.

Collier. —On 14th May, the hon. John Collier, R.A.

Long. —On 14th May, Mr Edwin Long, r.a., in his 52nd year.

Sampson. —On 14th May, Mr H. Sampson, editor of the London Referee.

Wilkie.— At Dunedin, on 29th April, of pneumonia, after a short illness, James Wilkie, a well-known bookseller.

Osborn.—A home telegram records the death of the Rev. Dr. G. Osborn, at the age of 83. He was a prominent member of the Wesleyan body, had seen 63 years of ministerial service, and was twice president of Conference. He edited an edition, in thirteen volumes, of the poetical works of John and Charles Wesley, and was also the author of several volumes of theological literature.

McNamara.—On 5th February, at Chicago, Mr Stephen McNamara, aged 49. For twenty-one years he was in charge of the Knight & Leonard Company's pressroom, and gained the reputation of being one of the most thorough pressmen in the United States. He contributed to the Inland Printer a valuable series of articles on the evolution of the printing-press. He was married in 1867, and leaves a widow and four children.

Luse.—On 16th January, at Los Angeles, California, A. P. Luse, of the firm of Marder, Luse, & Co., typefounders, in his 60th year, Mr Luse, who had been a printer and stationer, in 1869 bought an interest in the house of Schofield, Marder, & Co., proprietors of the Chicago Typefoundry, and the firm took the name of Marder, Luse, & Co., which it has since retained, and has now become one of the largest typefounding concerns in the country. When the firm was incorporated, in 1883, he found it necessary, on account of failing health, to withdraw from active participation in the business. In 1854 he was married to Miss Sarah Wade, of Lafayette, who died in 1884.

Blavatsky.—A New York telegram, dated 9th May, records the death, at the age of 60, of Madame Blavatsky, foundress of the Theosophical Society, and one of the most remarkable characters of the time. She was the author of several books, the best-known being Isis Unveiled (1876), a costly work, in two volumes, which has had a large sale. She was a great traveller, and had a most romantic career. In her travels she studied the mysteries of negro Vaudooism, of the Thibetan Mahatmas, and all accessible records of ancient and modern necromancy and mysticism. Her own transcendental experiences, it is worthy of note, followed as the immediate result of a fall from a horse, causing serious spinal injury, and inducing the condition known to physiologists as dual existence, in which she continued for eighteen months. By thousands of people she was regarded as an earnest and gifted student of the mysteries of the spirit-world; but the more common view is that of the investigating committee of the Society for Psychical Research, that « she has achieved a title to permanent remembrance as one of the most accomplished, ingenious, and interesting impostors in history. » It is quite possible that both these estimates are wrong.