
IN MEMORIAM—PROFESSOR THOMAS KING. 11 
He entered with much enthusiasm into the work of arranging for 
the conference and exhibition, which took place early in October 
of that year. The exhibition, which was held in what were then 
the Coal Exchange Buildings, West Regent Street, proved 
entirely successful ; and the collection of fungi, which included 
thousands of specimens, in almost endless variety of size, shape, 
and colour, afforded a unique and interesting sight. This visit of 
the Cryptogamic Society led to important results. The conference, 
excursions, and exhibition were attended by nearly all the leading 
mycologists in Scotland, with most of whom Mr. King has ever since 
been on terms of warm friendship and frequent correspondence. 
He, along with Mr. William Stewart, the late Mr. Robert 
Turner, and others whose names are closely associated with local 
research in mycology, became members of the Cryptogamic 
Society, with the result that the study of this department of 
botany—usually one of the most neglected—has ever since been 
actively pursued in our own Society. 
In 1883 Mr. King was appointed Honorary Treasurer of the 
Cryptogamic Society, in succession to the Rev. Dr. Stevenson, 
Glamis, who had become Honorary Secretary. During the last 
sixteen years, the conferences of the Society, held each year in a 
different part of the country, have been regularly attended by Mr. 
King. These small gatherings, where most of those present were 
eminent specialists in mycology, have always afforded him the 
keenest enjoyment, and had the effect of adding considerably to 
his own stores of knowledge. 
He was one of the founders of the Microscopical Society of 
Glasgow, which was instituted in October, 1884. Except during 
Session 1891-92, he was an office-bearer continuously from the 
date of the Society’s foundation until his death. In 1884 he was 
elected a member of Council; from 1888 to 1891 he acted as a 
Vice-President; from 1892 to 1895 he held the office of President ; 
and in 1895 he was again elected a Vice-President, which office 
he continued to hold at the time of his death. His skill as a 
microscopist, combined with a thorough knowledge of the structure 
and functions of vegetable tissues, and extensive acquaintance 
with the lower forms of plant life, enabled him to bring before 
the Society a large number of interesting objects, while the papers 
read by him were both numerous and varied. 
