202 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



express my feeling of gratification at this unexpected presenta- 

 tion, and especially the pleasure superadded by the kindly words 

 of my valued friend, Princij)al Sir William !Muir. It is very 

 dangerous for any frail mortal to venture to speak of himself, or 

 to refer to his past career ; but after the too generous allusions to 

 various incidents of my life which have been made to-night, this 

 can scarcely be avoided. 



In early life I was brought up with a tutor in the country, and 

 trained to rural pursuits and acquaintance with agricultural routine. 

 I had an excellent education— first at the High School of Edin- 

 burgh, and afterwards at the University of St Andrews. In 1837, 

 I became an apprentice for five years of the eminent surgeon. 

 Professor Syme (from whom I learned much, both from his hand 

 and his head), and graduated M.D., Edinburgh, in 1841. In the 

 following year, at twenty-two years of age, I received an appoint- 

 ment in the East India Company's Service, and sailed for Madras 

 in the troopship " Wellington." 



After a few years of marching and counter-marching with different 

 regiments in Southern India, between Dharwar and Trichinopoly, I 

 obtained a civil charge in the Mysore Commission, with the super- 

 intendence of a jail, vaccination, and other duties. Here, for the 

 first time, I had a considerable amount of leisure, and resolved 

 to follow the advice previously given to me by Sir Joseph Hooker, 

 viz., to study one plant a day for a quarter of an hour ; and which 

 I did after the morning's duty in the jail and hospital was over. 

 About this time also, my honoured University teacher, the late Sir 

 Robert Christi^on, sent me a list of inquirenda and desiderata 

 relating to Indian drugs, which I endeavoured to follow u]). 

 Pursuing this plan steadily, I soon acquired a knowledge of the 

 Flora of the Provhice of Mysore. As time advanced, official 

 references were made to me in regard to the Medical and Economic 

 Plants of India, and other duties were added, such as preparing a 

 collection of native raw produce for the Local Museum. In 

 1848, I was sent home, invalided by Mysore fever, and took 

 up residence at Torquay for three winters. In 1851 my papers 

 were drawn up for resigning the Service ; but before sending 

 them in, I resolved to try another voyage round the Cape of Good 

 Hope, and was preparing to start, when Professor Forbes Royle, 

 of King's College, London, asked me to assist him in arranging 

 the raw produce for the Great Exhibition of 1851. I gave up my 

 intended voyage, and was occupied for several months in classifying 



