98 Memoir of the late Mr William Blackie, 



partly with the view of making himself acquainted with ihe 

 state of the art to which he had devoted himself, as carried 

 on in the metropolis, and partly with the hope of obtaining 

 some orders for pieces of work. He carried with him letters 

 of introduction from Sir David Brewster to Mr Robert Brown, 

 Mr Pritchard, Mr Bate, and Mr Jackson Lister. Mr Prit- 

 chard received him with great kindness, and gave him orders 

 for some of the grooved spheres. He was favoured also with 

 the patronage of several other distinguished philosophers and 

 fellow-artists; and he returned home both pleased and re- 

 freshed by the agreeable incidents of his journey, and by the 

 excellent opportunities of improvement which he had en- 

 joyed. 



Mr Blackie now made for the late Mr Sivright of Megget- 

 land, a diamond lens similar to that which he manufactured 

 in 1834, which, it is believed, remains in the possession of Mr 

 Sivright's family. He also made, about this time, a number 

 of lenses of various kinds for Professor Forbes ; and assisted 

 that gentleman greatly, by grinding plates and lenses of rock- 

 salt, which were used in the experiments on light and heat, 

 subsequently communicated to the Royal Society by the Pro- 

 fessor. It is understood that no other artist was found able 

 and willing to undertake this labour. 



Mr Blackie also made a fine sapphire-lens, focus one- 

 seventieth of an inch, radius one-fortieth of an inch, which 

 magnifies 420 times ; a garnet-lens, one-fiftieth of an inch 

 focus, magnifying 300 times ; and a smaller garnet-lens, one- 

 twentieth of an inch focus, magnifying 720 times. 



But the subject of our memoir was not a mere artist. He 

 carefully and successfully cultivated the higher powers of his 

 mind, and did much to supply the deficiencies of his early 

 education. He was fond of plants, although he disliked the 

 labours of the gardener ; and he sedulously cherished a fine 

 collection of choice flowers, of the produce of which he made 

 his friends partakers. He made good progress in the acqui- 

 sition of botanical, chemical, and astronomical science. He 

 was, above all, eminently characterised by extreme modesty, 

 and perfect simplicity and ingenuousness of disposition. His 

 deportment was particularly unassuming. He was most kind, 



