34 
plants in being : the practical physiologist in the open. His 
‘ecology’ was superior to that usually so called, for it was 
not analytic only, but constructive. At the back of it all was 
the fact that as a boy he had passed through the potting sheds 
like any working gardener. No doubt he had absorbed from 
Sadler, the old curator, much ancient wisdom; but it was 
fame for growing shy Sate The cultivation in the Siaen is 
probably as good as any in Europe, and it has been carried into 
many new and experimental lines.” 
With all this activity in matters connected with the Botanic 
Garden proper, in addition to his heavy duties as Professor, he 
yet found time to carry out those researches in the domain of 
pure botany, both taxonomic, oecological and physiological. 
which alone would have shed lustre on his name and justified 
the title of “ King’s Botanist in Scotland.” 
- His later systematic work dealt more especially with the 
genera Rhododendron and Primula and his critical investigations 
on these genera have given his name a permanent place in the 
annals of systematic study.- His interest in the flora of S. 
China, on which vast subject he was the recognised authority, 
may have been the reason for his devotion to these complex 
genera, and their difficulty no doubt added a further incentive 
to their study. With the Primulas collected on the second 
Mount Everest expedition he was working just before his death, 
and it is due to his careful studies that we now understand so 
-much of the relationship that exists between the flora of the 
Himalayas and South Western China. 
Of his physiological work mention must be made of his 
experiments on the effects of freezing in seed germination and 
of his work on Propagation made available to students in his 
‘Masters.’ Lectures: on plant propagation, published in we 
. Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society (vol..xxxvili. pt. 3 
- 1913), which show how he brought his wide rags » knowledge 
to bear on the practical problems of Horticultur 
In the domain of Oecology he was pie rinsieenti. and 
many years ago he wrote and had printed some sheets of 
~ biological notes on Scottish Plants. These were circulated to 
a few friends, but unfortunately never published, and were only 
the commencement of what was intended to be a comprehensive 
wor. 
“He also bias in contemplation an account of the development 
‘of Botany and Forestry in Scotland during the last fifty years, 
and much known only to him is now, alas, lost beyond recall. 
In this connection must*be mentioned his keen interest “in the 
saeco to’ establish an Alpiiie garden in the Scottish mountains, 
put forward by Mr:-A. K, Bulley; and-the-attainment of his long- 
— desire to obtain a suitable site for a great Rhododendron 
by ies. a 
