The Annals 



of 



Scottish Natural History 



No. 21] 1897 [JANUARY 



THE LATE PROFESSOR THOMAS KING. 



THOMAS KING was born on the I4th April 1834, at 

 Yardfoot, Lochwinnoch, Renfrewshire, a farm which was 

 owned and occupied by his father. He received his early 

 education in a small school in the village of Glenhead. He 

 was destined to be a teacher, and in 1855, after the sale of 

 his birthplace, and the removal of the family to Glasgow, he 

 entered the Normal Training College of the Free Church of 

 Scotland. The early bent of his mind revealed itself in his 

 attendance on the class of Botany in that Institution. In 

 1862 he was appointed teacher of English in the Garnet 

 Bank Academy, where, in addition to the ordinary subjects, 

 he taught an advanced class of Botany. The work of the 

 session, however, proved too much for his strength, which 

 had never been robust, and he was obliged to relinquish the 

 position. Through the influence of a brother, who had 

 settled in Chili, he was appointed to an English school in 

 Valparaiso. He took this step in the hope that a long sea 

 voyage, and residence in a warmer climate, might be 

 beneficial to his health. Leaving in July, he arrived at 

 Valparaiso in October, 1864. 



During eight years of residence in Valparaiso his health 

 was in great measure restored, and his love of Botany found 

 new fields for its devotion. His letters during this period to 

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