268 Ohituary Notice. 



Christison was a distinct and successful lecturer, and 

 the excellent museum which he founded in connection 

 with his chair has contributed much to the study of 

 Materia Medica. As a member of the Senatus Academicus, 

 he was elected five times in succession by his colleagues to 

 be their Assessor in the University Court. He was most 

 untiring in his efforts to advance the interests of the 

 University, whether in providing more building accom- 

 modation or in obtaining greater endowments. On two 

 occasions, in 1838 and 1846, he was elected President of the 

 Royal College of Physicians, and that body commissioned 

 his portrait to be taken by the late Sir John Watson 

 Gordon. About this time he was appointed Physician 

 to the Queen. In 1857 Christison was nominated by the 

 Crown to represent' the profession in Scotland at the 

 General Medical Council. On the death of Sir David 

 Brewster he was elected President of the Edinburgh 

 Royal Society, and held ofiice from 1868 till 1873. At the 

 close of his term, his portrait in oil was again commissioned 

 to be taken for preservation in the hall of the Society. 

 In 1875 he presided over the Edinburgh meeting of the 

 British Medical Association. He was also proposed as 

 President of the British Association in 1876, but declined 

 an honour which threatened to overtax his strength at his 

 time of life. In 1866 the University of Oxford conferred 

 on him the degree of D.C.L. ; and in 1871 the University 

 of Edinburgh made him an LL.D. ; while in November of 

 the same year, on the recommendation of Mr Gladstone, 

 he received from the Queen the rank of Baronet of the 

 United Kingdom. 



The jubilee of his professorial service in the University 

 of Edinburgh was celebrated on the 23rd February 1872. 



During his retirement from active work, Christison 

 became specially interested in the growth of trees in 

 various parts of Scotland and in the Edinburgh Botanic 

 Garden. His sons, as well as Mr Sadler, assisted him 

 much in his various measurements, which have been 

 published in the Transactions of the Botanical Society. It 

 is to be hoped that these observations, especially in the 

 Botanic Garden, will still be continued, and the results 

 periodically published. 



