GLASGOW PROFESSORSHIP 129 



to look out for some botanical appointment which should at 

 once satisfy his personal tastes, and be remunerative. The 

 chair in Glasgow becoming vacant in 1820 by the transfer of 

 Dr Graham to Edinburgh, he received the appointment from 

 the Crown, largely through the influence of Sir Joseph Banks. 

 He entered upon its duties never having lectured before to 

 a class of students, nor even heard such lectures, but otherwise 

 equipped for their performance in a way that would bear com- 

 parison with any of the professors of his time. 



Glasgow was in 1820 at an interesting juncture in its botani- 

 cal history. Though the science of botany had been taught for 

 a whole century in the University, a separate chair had been 

 founded by the Crown only two years before. Moreover, though 

 there had been for a long period a "Physic Garden" in the 

 grounds of the old College, this had proved insufficient, and its 

 position within the growing town unsuitable. Accordingly, in 

 part by grant from the Crown, partly from the funds of the 

 University, but largely by the subscriptions of enthusiastic 

 citizens a Botanic Garden had been founded under Royal Charter 

 in 1817, and opened to the public in 1819. The first blush of 

 novelty had not worn off this new enterprise when a man, 

 already in a leading position, whose successful achievements had 

 shown his quality, acquainted with many of the leading botan- 

 ists of Europe, and with youth and unbounded energy at his 

 disposal entered upon the scene, and began that course of 

 organisation of Public Botanic Gardens which he continued 

 to the day of his death. 



There was nothing to prevent the Glasgow establishment 

 from rapidly taking a leading position. Largely as the result 

 of Hooker's influence and initiative, and assisted greatly no 

 doubt by the zeal with which the movement was supported by 

 individual citizens, and aided by the position of Glasgow as a 

 great commercial centre, contributions to the garden began to 

 come in from every quarter of the globe. Taking the number 

 of species represented as a measure, the growth of the living 

 collections was rapid beyond precedent. In 1821 the number 

 of species living in the garden was about 9000: in 1825 it is 

 quoted at 12,000, while the increase in number from that period 



o. B. Q 



