OBITUARY, 239 



Sir Isaac return from a visit to Ben Lawers without bringing 

 from the hill on his own shoulders a load of schistose soil which 

 was destined to find its way into the cracks and crannies 

 occupied by some shy Alpine treasure. 



As regards the Botanic Garden, no problem was too big or 

 intricate, and no detail was too minute to receive its due share 

 of attention by the Keeper. 



No less strenuous and intensive was the care which Sir Isaac 

 bestowed upon his professorial duties. His vast knowledge of 

 facts and his wonderful faculty for arranging and presenting 

 these to his students in logical sequence, together with his un- 

 failing use of the right word or phrase, his clear diction and 

 perfect elocution, gave a magic touch to the interest of his 

 lectures. He was generally regarded, and rightly so, as one 

 of the best lecturers of his time. 



Sir Isaac was always a strong believer in the value of practical 

 laboratory work, and the observation of facts at first hand by 

 the students themselves. In each University where he taught 

 he never neglected to make full use of laboratory and field 

 methods to develop in his pupils the faculty of making close 

 observations, and thus gaining knowledge by these first-hand 

 methods for themselves. 



Before his retirement he saw the completion of the fine new 

 range of buildings which now provide the necessary accommoda- 

 tion in lecture theatres, laboratories and research rooms for a 

 complete botanical institute. 



The library and the herbarium were constantly being enriched 

 by added books and specimens during the whole thirty-four 

 years of Sir Isaac's administration. 



The Museum at the Garden is second to none in interest. 

 The selection, preparation, and staging of the exhibits are 

 carried out with the skill and thoroughness so characteristic of 

 all the improvements effected in the Garden under Sir Isaac's 

 direction. He had the rare faculty of not only selecting, but 

 of keeping together, a highly-trained staff as head of the various 

 departments under his control. 



It was in later years always a regret to Sir Isaac that owing 

 to its immediate surroundings any considerable extension of the 

 area of the Garden was impossible, but possibly the very last 

 improvement of importance effected by Sir Isaac was the 

 addition of an area of nearly three acres in extent on the north- 



