3R PltriCKKDlNGS Or THK 



powers of or;^:iiiizatio)i as in \\w school. \\ hen he ciitorcd upon 

 ills duties, liis only materials wero dried or ])rescrved plnnls ; but 

 ultinialel)' he siicieeded in f^ellinfj possession of some {;roiind lor 

 the cultivation oF plants and the building of a laboratory ou the 

 borders of l''onlainel)lean. 



The year 18Sfl witnessed the i'onndatioii of the ' Itevue generate 

 de JJotani(pie,' which is now in its li-ith volume; from I.S79 he 

 issued a m\dtitude of articles, together with some in collaboration 

 with li. iNIangin or C. Flahault. Perhaps the most striking item 

 in his >trenu()us laliours is his ' Flore complele illustree en couleurs 

 de l''rance, tSuisse, et lielgique,' of which six (juriito aoIuiiics have 

 been issued, t'r(Mn Jianuiiculacea^ to Coniposittr. 



He was elected on the ('.th JNJay, 191^0, a I'oreign iMember, hut 

 his connection with our Society was short: he died in J'aris on 

 the 20th December, 1H22, and was buried on tiie 12nd of .lanuarv 

 last. [B. D. J.] 



Dr. William CABia'TiiEiis, F.li.8., Past-J'resident of the Linnean 

 Society during; 18Sn-'.'0, and a Fellow since 7th February, 1861, 

 passpcl away a few days after the completion of his 92iid year. 



Born at JMofTat on the 29th ]\I:iy. 183u, he was intended by his 

 father, Samuel Carruthers, a retiiil ti-adesmau, for the Presby- 

 terian ministrj', and received his education at Moffat Academy, and 

 ]"]dinburgh University, which he entered in ]84o and wa>; still a 

 student in 1854, when he passed into ]S'ew College, P^dinhurgh, 

 for training to the pastoral oflice. By that time he must have 

 shown special aptitude for natural science, as Professor John 

 Fleming, who taught natural science iji that institution, advised 

 him to specialise in science. One of the early recollections of our 

 late Fellow w as, that this professor had a Great Auk.AJca impennis, 

 in captivity, probablv one of the last specimens so kept. Other 

 teachers were iJolui Hutton Balfour, Ceoi-ge J. Allman, and John 

 Goodsir, and his prospects of succeeding Fleming in 1858 were 

 good, when John Anderson was a]jpointcd to the vacant chair. 

 Forty-five years afterwards Mr. Carruthers discharged those 

 functions at New College during liJ()3-04. 



A short ])eriod as bo:anical lecturer at the New Yeterinaiy 

 College, l*]dinburgli, and Assistant Secretary to the l^oyal Society 

 of Edinhurgh, w;is followed by his appointment to the Botanical 

 Department, British Museum, as assistant to J. J. Bennett, 

 recently confirmed as Keej^er, after the enquiry in I860 into the 

 department conseijuent upon the death of Bobert Brown. He 

 remained in this em])loyment until his retirement in 1895, altliough 

 in 1879 he was ai; applicant forthe Chaimf Botany in Edinburgh, 

 Avlien Alexander Dickson was apjiointed. 



An energetic ])ersonality was iiatnrally bound to be vigorous, and 

 Mr. Ciirrutbers took his fidl sliare in an acti\e and stirring period. 

 He was a pioneer in fossil botany, jiublished discoveries of Grapto- 

 iites as early as 1858, and the Geology of Mofl'at in 1859, both 



