74 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Switzerland" (" E.M.M," iv, 1867-68, pp. 57-60). After 

 his return to Scotland he made his home in Perth ; and hav- 

 ing no desire for medical practice, and being independent of 

 his profession, he devoted himself almost entirely to advan- 

 cing the knowledge of the Natural History of Scotland, and 

 to awakening a stronger interest in its progress, not only in 

 Perth, but also throughout Scotland. 



In order to acquaint himself with the distribution of the 

 animals and plants of Scotland by actual observation, he 

 spent about six months of each year, until I 875, in the country, 

 usually in a district not previously visited by him. Thus in 

 1867 he visited Rannoch, in 1868 Achilty in Ross-shire, in 

 1870 Colvend in Wigtownshire on the Solway Firth, in 1871 

 Braemar, in 1872 Dunkeld, and in 1873 he returned to 

 Braemar. 



Powerfully built, and of great physical endurance, he de- 

 lighted in active exercise ; and he was accustomed to spend 

 long days among the Scottish mountains, in the investigation 

 of their fauna and flora. On such expeditions he scarcely 

 seemed to feel fatigue ; and his attention was always on the 

 alert. He thus gained a knowledge, founded on personal 

 investigation, of many districts of Scotland so thorough as 

 has perhaps never been attained by any other man. To this 

 minute acquaintance with the animals and plants of his native 

 land in their natural habitats, and amidst the environments 

 most favourable to their healthy development, he added the 

 systematic study of various groups, both of animals and of 

 plants, and was recognised as an authority on widely dif- 

 ferent divisions, e.g. on Willows and on Hemiptera as to 

 classification, and on Lepidoptera, as to structure, habits, and 

 effects of environment. 



A considerable number of new species were named and 

 described by him, especially among the Hemiptera. The 

 wide range of his contributions to various scientific journals 

 will be best appreciated by a reference to the subjoined list 

 of papers and notes from his pen. For several of the later 

 years of his life, however, his labour was largely devoted to 

 the preparation of a thoroughly reliable work on the Botany 

 of Perthshire. With this aim, he spared no labour to become 

 thoroughly familiar with the plants of all parts of Perthshire ; 



