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productions which had escaped his early notice. During the 
years 1818-19 and 1819-20, he resided near Oban, and prin- 
cipally with that sister to whom allusion has been made 
already, employing his time in making a fair copy of the 
journal from which the following extracts are taken, as well 
as in collecting the Phenogamous plants and Mosses of the 
neighbouring districts. 
In 1820, the farm of Ardtur, situated near Lismore, the 
place of his birth, was advertised to be let, and, being well 
calculated for the residence of a naturalist, he rented it. It 
was there that he turned his inquiries almost exclusively to 
Acotyledonous plants. Lichens, Fungi, and Alge, in their turn 
excited his curiosity, and in each of these departments he was 
fortunate enough to add greatly to the list of Scottish species. 
If success is ever due to industry, he might claim it. The 
objects that had few or no charms for others, or were too 
common to attract their notice, possessed the highest interest 
for him. Each leaf, each rotten branch, was examined by him. 
No bank, no tree, was passed over; wliatever the state of the 
weather might have been, he might still be found pursuing his 
researches, and it is a cause of happiness to his friends, that 
when his cold ashes claim no notice, the days on which he 
thus laboured are bright with the fruits which he gathered. 
But the Alge constituted his favourite pursuit. Conveni- 
ently situated in respect to the sea, the little farm of Ardtur, 
which he has rendered well known in the “ British Flora,” 
possesses a shore of about one-third of a mile in extent, which 
is varied with occasional rocks and small islands, where the 
tide flows rapidly, but is in general smooth, with a gentle 
declivity towards the deep. "There is thus a considerable 
extent of shore left dry by the ebbing of the tide, and a favour- 
able field opened to the Algeologist. ' 
- Urged by these local advantages, as well as by the repre- 
sentations of Dr. Hooker, who gave him the free use of his 
library, Captain Carmichael applied himself to the study of 
marine plants with the utmost devotedness. Every day found 
him watching the receding of the tide, and he continued for 
several years examining the stations which he had searched 
