2 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



ness did not hinder Mr. Young from active service in fact 

 he could walk with any sound-limbed person ; nor did it 

 daunt his courage. We saw him once rush across the street 

 and rescue an aged clergyman from the abuse of a drunken 

 Irishman ; and in the Museum, woe betide man, woman, or 

 child who misbehaved, for out they went. Being debarred, 

 by reason of this lameness, from entering his chosen pro- 

 fession of medicine, Mr. Young became a schoolmaster. 

 Many men and women still living in Paisley remember 

 being in Mr. Young's day-school in the long ago. They 

 recollect with pleasure how on certain fixed days red-letter 

 days they were to both teacher and scholars a lecture was 

 given on butterflies and moths and other less attractive 

 insects, and with what astonishment they looked upon the 

 wonderful collection which he exhibited to them. At first 

 Mr. Young used to find some difficulty in getting out to 

 collect as early in the morning as he wished. He and a 

 companion hit upon the device of leading a string from his 

 bed, through the window, to the street below. On going to 

 bed at night, Mr. Young tied the string to his big toe. In 

 the morning his friend came along and, pulling the string, 

 awoke him. This, however, did not long work well. Some 

 other companions, having learned the system, rose at un- 

 timeous hours and drew the string, much to Mr. Young's 

 discomfiture. 



Long before I 860, Mr. Young was well known amongst 

 entomologists in Great Britain and on the Continent as a 

 leading Coleopterist. Among his correspondents such men 

 as Rye, Smith, Wollaston, Murray, and Waterhouse may 

 be mentioned. In Lepidoptera also, he had an extensive 

 knowledge, and possessed a very good local collection. In 

 short, Zoology, as a whole, had great attractions for him ; 

 and as he wandered through our woods and glens, or over 

 the lofty Bens that overlook the estuary of the Clyde, or 

 along the banks of our rivers and lochs, he had ample 

 opportunities of observing the beauties of nature and of 

 learning the many lessons which she alone can teach. 



In 1862 a few of his scholars and others whom he had 

 interested in his own study formed themselves, under his 

 leadership, into a Natural History Society. They met two 



