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One of the Secretaries then read the following account of 

 the life of Dr. Robert Angus Smith, which had been drawn 

 up by Dr. E, Schunck at the request of the Council : — 



Robert Angus Smith, a man whose name will always find 

 a place in the annals of our Society, has passed away since 

 our last annual meeting. His was a life of which it is 

 difiicult to form a just estimate, on account of the many- 

 sidedness of his character and attainments. His contribu- 

 tions to science and literature will indeed always remain 

 accessible to the judgment of posterity, but there is much 

 in his character and his relations to the world which should 

 be recorded ere those who knew him have also passed 

 away. In his case, fortunately, the record may be perfectly 

 unreserved, for here there are no blots to be concealed, no 

 dark shadows to be passed over. 



Robert Angus Smith was born in Glasgow, February 

 15th, 1817, being the twelfth child and seventh son of John 

 Smith, a manufacturer of that city, and of Janet his wife, 

 daughter of James Thomson, who was an owner of flax and 

 other mills at Strathavon, where he held the office of 

 baron-baillie. Of the brothers, those who attained to 

 maturity were all men of remarkable intellect. The eldest, 

 John Smith, was for many years a master in the Perth 

 Academy, and paid great attention to optics, a paper of 

 his having been printed in the Memoirs of this Society. 

 James Smith, a man of highly original character, was the 

 author of several works on religious and philosophical 

 subjects. Another brother, Michaiah, was a distinguished 

 oriental scholar, while Joseph, the youngest, devoted him- 

 self to science, but unfortunately died early. The father 

 was by all accounts a very earnest man with profound 

 religious convictions, and though not highly successful in 

 worldly pursuits was able to give his sons a good education, 

 such as the schools and universities of Scotland were and 

 are presumably still able to offer even to men of moderate 



