OBITUARY NOTICES. 241 
OBLEUARY .NG@RICE S: 
In the course of the past year (1905) the Society has lost by 
death several prominent members. On February 27th Mr 
Patrick Neill Fraser, one of its oldest members, died; on 
September 7th Mr Pitcaithley was cut off in the fulness of his 
manhood; on the following day, September 8th, the death of 
Mr D. P. Laird took place with tragic suddenness; while the 
death of yet another prominent member fell to be recorded 
within the year, viz., that of Mr Robert Baxter, on October 2oth. 
PATRICK NEILL FRASER. 
Although Mr Neill Fraser’s chief hobby lay in another 
direction, and most of the time which he devoted to pursuits 
other than those directly connected with his business was spent 
in the furtherance of botany and horticulture, yet he took much 
interest in arboriculture, and at the time of his death was one 
of the oldest members of the Society, having joined it in 1857, 
three years after its foundation. For many years he took an 
active interest in the affairs of the Society, both as a member 
of Council and otherwise, and he gave valuable assistance in 
connection with the International Forestry Exhibition of 1884. 
But, as has already been said, it was in horticulture and botany 
that Mr Fraser found himself most at home, and he was a 
prominent member of the Royal Caledonian Horticultural and 
Botanical Societies, to the former of which he acted as Treasurer 
for many years, and also of the Scottish Alpine Botanical Club. 
ALA, 
David PRINGLE LAIRD. 
Few breaches indeed have been made in the ranks of the 
Society which have caused such a blank as that produced by 
the lamented death of Mr D. P. Laird. Although, comparatively 
speaking, he was a young member of the Society, having joined 
it in 1890, no one, perhaps, during his period of membership, 
VOL. XIX. PART I, Q 
