-258 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 



He took an active part in some public matters 

 besides those to which I have referred. In 1810, he 

 was one of the Managers of Stirling's Library. He 

 was a Justice of Peace for the County of Lanark, 

 iind a Commissioner of Assessed Taxes for the 

 Lower Ward. He occupied for a time the hon- 

 ourable position of Provost of the Burgh of 

 Anderston, w^hicli shows the esteem in which he 

 was held by those among whom he lived. 



After 1830 he did not reside much about Glasgow. 

 He subsequently took up his abode in Ireland, and 

 was for some time connected with the Geological 

 Department of the Ordnance Survey of that country. 

 Part of the Juvenile Calendar, published 1837, was 

 written by him whilst spending the summer at 

 Rothesay. 



The time came to him that comes to all, when 

 Death claims his due, and joys and sorrows, 

 enthusiasms and regrets, successes and failures, 

 alike fade into cold shadow. He died at Malone, 

 Belfast, on the 24th August, 1841, and was buried 

 there. He was a widower at his decease, and left a 

 young family to deplore his loss. 



I have little to add. That his life was a round 

 of industry, what he did clearly testifies. The 

 originality of the work marks the inventive mind 

 of the man. He w^as the earliest to do and suggest 

 B.nd introduce many things. He struck out new 

 paths in various fields. As a botanist he published 

 the first list of the plants of the Clyde district, he 

 wrote the first English book entirely devoted to 

 Teratology, he succeeded in founding the Glasgow 

 Royal Botanic Institution. By his presence the 

 society of the city in the earlier years of the 

 century was the richer in culture and refinement, 

 and he did his best towards making the city itself 

 beautiful within and without. This sketch puts on 

 record some facts as to his life and work which 

 have been rescued from oblivion, and it may help 

 us to form an estimate of his worth. 



