6 TRANSACTIONS, NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 
first time figured from a specimen cultivated in Europe. It was 
presented to the Royal Gardens, Kew, by Thomas King, Esq., of 
Garnet Hill, Glasgow, in 1892, along with a collection of seeds 
and bulbs from Valparaiso. It flowered in a cool house in July, 
1893, and again in 1894. The plant is not uncommon in Chili, 
from the latitude of Concepcion to that of Coquimbo, ascending 
to 7,000 feet on the Andes.” 
After an absence of nine years, Mr. King longed once more to 
see his friends at home, and to revisit the familiar scenes of early 
life, and he felt that the time had come when that cherished 
desire might with safety be gratified. He accordingly resolved 
to visit Scotland, and afterwards to return to Chile, where most 
of his possessions were still allowed to remain. 
He reached home on 29th March, 1873, and spent the summer 
months with his father and mother. During the Summer Session 
of that year, he attended the Botany class of the late Professor 
Alexander Dickson, M.D., in the University of Glasgow, and was 
pleased to find that his health had become so far restored as to 
warrant the belief that he would be able not only to reside per- 
manently in this country, but to devote himself once more to 
educational work. The intention to return to Chile was there- 
fore finally abandoned ; and during the Winter Session of 1873-74 
he attended Professor John Nichol’s class of English Literature 
in the University, besides obtaining teaching engagements in 
various schools in the city. In the following summer (1874) he 
again attended Professor Dickson’s class of Botany. 
In 1877 he was appointed to the lectureship on Botany in the 
Glasgow Eastern Mechanics’ Institute, which had become vacant 
through the resignation of his cousin, Dr. John Mathie. In the 
following year (1878) he received a similar appointment in the 
Glasgow Mechanics’ Institute, which was afterwards known as 
the College of Seience and Art, and was in 1886 incorporated in 
the Glasgow and West of Scotland Technical College. 
During the next few years, the periods of freedom from class 
engagements, which he enjoyed during the summer months, were 
set apart to study. In 1878 he attended Professor Bayley 
Balfour’s lectures on Botany in the University, and, in the 
following year, his course of instruction in Practical Botany. In 
1883 he went to London, where he attended lectures on Botany 
