254 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



sketch of the Park, supposing it turned to this 

 purpose. A neat bridge might be thrown across 

 the burn from the High Church-yard. We seriously 

 recommend this hint to the Merchants' House, both 

 as a matter of taste and in a pecuniary point of 

 view." Hopkirk, writing in 1837, expresses his grati- 

 fication at having been the first to suggest the 

 conversion of the Fir Park into a Necropolis. It 

 was the first garden cemetery in Scotland, and was 

 opened in 1832. 



In the year 1835, the University of Glasgow con- 

 ferred on him the degree of LL.D. in recognition of 

 his scientific attainments. 



In 1837, Dr. Hopkirk published anonymously a 

 popular book, entitled The Juvenile Calendar ; or 

 Natural History of the Year. (Rothesay: William 

 Glass.) This is a j)leasant little treatise, originally 

 drawn up for his own family, and it is written in a 

 racy easy style. In it we perceive the work of one 

 to whom all Nature was a delight. The unfolding 

 of Spring, the blossoming of Summer, the fruitage 

 and leaf-fall and fungi of Autumn, the birds that 

 come and go, the creatures of the wild, the sights 

 and sounds of earth and air and sea, had all a place 

 in his heart as fulfilling the manifold mystery of 

 God's world. The book is not only a talk of green 

 fields and lonely shores and the wonderful things 

 that a naturalist falls in with, but a discourse by a 

 cultured gentleman who knew the world both of 

 books and men. Dragonflies on gossamer wings,, 

 butterflies and moths dusted with splendid colourings 

 curious shells, and creatures that live in them 

 equally curious, hold with flowers and birds a share 

 in his regard. "If it has pleased God," he says, "ta 

 create them, surely we need not be ashamed to 

 examine and admire them." 



In order to illustrate his versatility as a naturalist^ 

 I shall, without entering into a detailed considera- 

 tion of the book, give the substance of a few of hi» 

 personal observations. 



