The Annals 



of 



Scottish Natural History 



No. 38] 1901 [APRIL 



THE LATE MR. JAMES BENNIE. 



BY the death of Mr. James Bennie on the 28th of January, 

 ecology and natural science lost a devoted student. 



O QJ 



Born in Glasgow in 1821, he had thus almost reached 

 the age of fourscore years. The fact that he was not very 

 robust in health when young, probably explains his short 

 schooldays ; still, his education must have been attended 

 to, as we find him at the age of sixteen making careful 

 observations in a diary. It is not unlikely that his associa- 

 tion during boyhood with handloom weavers a community 

 of keen politicians, and of intelligent, clear-headed, hard read- 

 ing, and hard working men helped to instil into his mind 

 his love of literature and of nature. Mr. Jolly, in his 

 biography of Duncan, the Alford weaver and botanist, has 

 given us the interesting story of the life of a kindred spirit 

 to that of Mr. Bennie. No doubt the writings and lectures 

 of Hugh Miller were largely instrumental in turning his 

 attention to geology. That he honoured and admired Miller 

 is eloquently proved by the fact that his first-born son bears 

 the name of this great genius. 



The Geological Society of Glasgow was founded in 1858, 



and Mr. Bennie joined the following year. Long before this 



date, however, we find from his diary that every spare hour 



was devoted to the geology around Glasgow. Yet up to 



38 B 



