PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. 5 



ber, 1880, until liis resignation in May, 1886, he was the repre- 

 sentative of the electorate of Owydir. In Apiil, 1890, he was 

 appointed to a seat in the Upper House. Asa public man, and 

 as a public-spirited citizen, Mr. Campbell enjoyed the respect and 

 esteem of those who knew him or were associated with him in 

 public life. Sir William Macleaj^ and Mr. Campbell married 

 sisters, two of the daughters of the late >ir Edward Deas Thomson, 

 C. B., K.C.M.G. Mr. Campbell's death has thus deprived the 

 Society of a member more nearly related to Sir William Macleay, 

 than by the tie of personal friendship. 



Mr. Alexander Grant was born at Cullen, Banffshire, Scotland, 

 in 1844. He served his apprenticeship as a horticulturist in the 

 celebrated gardens of the Earl of Seatield, Cullen House, being 

 afterwards engaged as gardener in the Koyal Botanic Gardens, 

 Edinburgh, during the curatorship of Mr. McNab. His skill as 

 a microscopist at this time led to his employment in the prepara- 

 tion of botanical microscopical material for the University 

 students who attended the gardens for special stud}'. After his 

 arrival in Sydney, in 1878, he was employed for several years as 

 a private gardener, and in 1882 joined the staff of the Sydney 

 Botanic Gardens. Mr. Grant made a special study of fungi and 

 was honorary custodian of the plants of this group in the National 

 Herbarium. He was a Vice-President of the Horticultural Asso- 

 ciation of New South Wales since its foundation. Mr. Grant 

 died on Christmas Day, 1906. 



The comparative absence in Australia of a wealthy leisured 

 class gives fewer unpaid workers to science in proportion to pro- 

 fessionals than is the ratio in Europe. Those we have are busy 

 men who, after their day's work is done, devote spare hours or 

 lu)lida3^s to study. One such, a brilliant amateur, was lost to our 

 little band of workers when Frederick Ernest Grant succumbed, 

 after a brief illness, on 31st January last. Mr. Grant was born 

 23rd March, 1866, at Farlesthorpe, Lincolnshire. In 1883 he 

 accompanied an elder brother, engaged in pastoral pursuits, to New 

 Zealand, and five years later entered the service of the Union Bank. 

 His love for natural science was strong from boyhood. During 



