OBITUARY. 241 



which show the various forms of damage which trees may suffer 

 by wrong treatment, inimical climatic factors, fungi, insect, and 

 animal attack. 



Among the several lectureships which Sir Isaac was instru- 

 mental in founding in the University are those of Forest Botany 

 and Forest Mycology. The laboratories, lecture, and research 

 rooms, their up-to-date equipment in instruments, apparatus, 

 and reagents, together with the wealth of research material 

 which the Garden and the new nursery ground can supply, and 

 the almost unlimited scope for experimental work render these 

 departments second to none. 



Only those who came into personal contact with Sir Isaac, 

 whether visitors to the Garden or members of his staff, can know 

 and appreciate the ready manner in which he was always willing 

 to give advice and assistance, frequently at great personal in- 

 convenience and the sacrifice of valuable time which had to be 

 made up by early morning and late night work. Courteous, 

 kindly, and helpful to all, he gave his time and advice un- 

 grudgingly to amateur and expert alike, and so long as those 

 who sought his help were really interested in plants, they did 

 not seek in vain. 



Honours and distinctions in abundance were conferred upon 

 Sir Isaac. These he accepted and valued as expressions of 

 appreciation by his country and colleagues, but it was not for 

 such rewards he laboured. The main impulse to work was for 

 the sake of work itself and the results which it would bring. 

 An unquenchable desire for knowledge left no time for leisure. 

 His active mind was for ever on the track of what was new, nor 

 did he abandon the old unless it could not be linked up and 

 fitted in with that which was new. His vast knowledge of facts 

 was balanced by his breadth of outlook, and for this reason he 

 was seldom, if ever, side-tracked or lost in the fog so liable to 

 be produced by the super-abundance of irrelevant detail. 



Apart from his achievements and conquests in the realms of 

 pure science, he possessed that all too rare gift of being able 

 to apply his special knowledge to the improvement of plant 

 cultivation in all its economic phases. 



Sir Isaac was a valued member of the Forestry Commission's 

 Scottish Consultative Committee. He was an Examiner for the 

 Highland and Agricultural Society's Forestry Certificate, and 

 Consulting Botanist for our own Society. 



