THOMAS HOPKIRK OF DALBETH. 24:9 



pleasant places being needed, the attempt had to be 

 made on another basis. 



At the beginning of the century a small piece of 

 ground off High Street near the College was known 

 as the "Physic Garden," and it had long been 

 devoted to the cultivation of plants illustrative of 

 T^otany. This science did not then take any very 

 prominent position in the College course ; and Dr. 

 James Jeffray occupied the double Chair of Anatomy 

 and Botany, dividing his attention between the 

 dissection of the bodies provided by the hangman 

 and the study of plants. It became apparent that 

 the situation of this garden was not a suitable one. 

 The blight of stifling manufactories was on all its 

 bloom. In 1816, Hopkirk succeeded in forming a 

 Society to establish a Botanic Garden in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the city. He secured the support of 

 many of the wealthier citizens, the University 

 agreed to contribute £2000 on certain conditions, 

 and the Society was duly erected into a corporation. 

 It says much for his energy and perseverance, that 

 when there was only a j)opulation in Glasgow of 

 140,000 or so, and wealth immeasurably less than 

 now, he succeeded in getting the i^ublic to show in 

 a practical way their appreciation of the beauty of 

 flower and leaf by subscribing the cash needed for 

 laying out gardens and erecting conservatories. Nor 

 did he himself lack a corresponding generosity. We 

 €an all feel how hard it is to part with collections 

 brought together during many years of toil and 

 care, and not without expense. Yet he made a gift 

 of the whole of his Dalbeth collection to the new 

 Society, and the Garden was thus stocked from the 

 very day of its opening with several thousand 

 species of plants, many of rare excellence and 

 beauty. 



About eight imperial acres of land were purchased 

 to the west of the city between Dumbarton Road 

 and Sandyford. The work was begun on the 15th 

 of May, 1817, and the general arrangements were 



