The late Andrew Murray, F.L.S. 733 



gold medal to Robert Hutchison, Esq., of Carlowrie, Kirkliston, for a 

 report on the Abies Menziesii, and its value for planting in Scotland. The 

 minor gold medal to James Duff, forester, Bayham Abbey, Kent, for a 

 report on the utilization of waste forest produce. 



Professor Balfour then announced the following premiums ofTered by the 

 Society for competition in the Fokestry Department in 1878 :— On ex- 

 tensive planting by proprietors in Scotland, £10 ; on'planting on peat bog' 

 £5 ; on forest trees of recent introduction, £5 ; on the Picca nohilis and its 

 value for j^lanting in Scotland, £5 ; on the varieties of trees best adapted for 

 planting as shelter in the islands of Scotland, £5; on the growth and cultivation 

 of willows in Scotland, £5 ; on the old and remarkable Spanish chestnuts 

 in Scotland, £10 ; on the cutting and transport of firewood, £5 ; on the 

 cultivation in Scotland of charcoal-producing plants, £5 ; on the cause of 

 ring-shaking in trees, £5; on the woods, forests, and forestry of Perthshire, 

 £10 ; on the woods,Iforests, and forestry of Ross-shire, £10 ; on the woods, 

 forests, and forestry of Inverness-shire, £10 ; on the comparative advan- 

 tages of high forest and coppice, or coppice with standard trees, £5 ; on 

 the utilization of waste produce of forests and woodlands for making an 

 artificial fuel, £10 ; on the insects most injurious to forest trees, £10. 



The late Andrew Murray, F.L.S. 



We have to record the death of a naturalist whose later life has been 

 mainly occupied in close scientific observation upon the injury done by 

 insects in our fields and gardens. As farmers and gardeners know but too 

 well, crops at every stage, from the time they are sow^n till they are 

 gathered iu, are subject to depredations from insects, aud when stored up 

 they are still so ravaged, but the tiller of the soil has not known how to 

 meet his foe, and has even confounded friends with foes by not knowing 

 the metamorphic phases through which insects pass. Connected officially 

 with the Royal Horticultural Society, to whose scientific coaimittee ques- 

 tions respecting damage to crops were often referred, Mr. Murray was so 

 impressed with the general ignorance of insect life that he made sugges- 

 tions to the Privy Council which led to the formation of a collection of 

 economic entomology, under the direction of the Science and Art Depart- 

 ment. This collection, now for some time past at the Bethnal dreen Branch 

 Museum, was referred to in the Times of September 16, 1876, and was 

 intended by Mr. Murray as a type museum tor instruction in agricultural 

 districts. Its formation had occupied the greater part of his energies for 

 years past, and his last few days at work were devoted to its completion. 

 There have been differences of opinion as to how far legislative inter- 

 ference, if any, should be carried with regard to insect destruction, but all 

 who have discussed the subject recognise the great value of the collection 

 which, through Mr. Murray, the Privy Council have made. Other natural 



