April 1902.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 193 



observations. He became a Fellow of the Botanical 

 Society of Edinburgh on 10th July 1884, and of the 

 Scottish Alpine Botanical Club in 1874, of which he was 

 an enthusiastic adherent and a well-known and welcome 

 figure. In fact, he was too enthusiastic, for there is but 

 too good reason to fear that the incipient ailment from 

 which he suffered was aggravated beyond recovery by his 

 injudiciously insisting upon travelling to take part in a 

 late meeting of that, his most favourite. Club. 



With that Club he discovered and secured two prizes, 

 viz. a beautiful rose-pink variety of Veronica saxatilis on 

 the Breadalbane Hills, near Killin ; and in Connemara, in 

 1890, a new form of heath, named Erica Tetralix Machiana 

 Stiiartii. Having joined the Berwickshire Naturalists' 

 Club in 1854, he became its President for the year 1873, 

 and to its Proceedings from time to time contributed a 

 large number of interesting Papers on subjects connected 

 with Natural History. 



Dr. Stuart's achievements and successes in horticulture 

 were numerous and important, and secured for him many 

 well-deserved honours from Horticultural Societies, among 

 them being the dedication to him of one of the volumes of 

 " The Garden," the leading paper of that " ilk " in England. 



Evidently he devoted his attention to the Pansy very 

 early (his favourite llower), for as long ago as 1854 he 

 was a successful competitor at The Scottish Pansy Society, 

 and in 1859, with the same flower, gained several 

 important prizes at their show. In 1874 he began to 

 turn special attention to hybridising, which was his 

 specialty, wherein, in certain directions, he may be said 

 to have been facile iwinceps. 



He began his experiments by crossing the Pansy with 

 the old Viola^ cornuta of gardens, and produced many 

 l^eautiful hybrids, which had the merit of being true 

 perennials and continuous bloomers, six of them having 

 obtained a First-class Certificate from Chiswick, in 1876. 



He raised many beautiful A'iolas — especially a light 

 yellow, ray less one — which were greatly admired. In May 

 1880, by crossing Aquiler/ia Witmanni with A. glaiuhdosa, 

 he obtained the beautiful Columbine which perpetuates his 

 name — Acprilegia Stuartii. 



