260 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



again, he would quietly discuss tlie nature and course of 

 apparent phenomena. Several important papers on geologi- 

 cal subjects, notably one on strata of Lower Carboniferous age, 

 underlying the basalt on the north-east portion of Arthur 

 Seat, will be found in our Proceedings, and are worthy of 

 attention. 



Dr M'Bain was a good botanist, and rarel}^ ever went 

 on his walks without his vasculum — picking up here and 

 there, by the way or hillside, or in the woods, weeds and 

 wild flowers, discoursing thereon as he went along. 



Our friend had antiquarian proclivities, but there was 

 another branch of science to which he was very partial, viz.. 

 Geographical Science. This occupied much of his attention, 

 and few men were better acquainted with the ancient writers 

 on this subject than he was — no one could quote Strabo, 

 " chapter and verse," more readily and aptly than he. He 

 took great interest in modern geographical discovery, and 

 more particularly so of the Arctic regions. His early 

 voyages to these parts gave us a cue to his well-known 

 enthusiasm on this subject, and his ever anxious sympathies 

 on behalf of explorers. It may here be mentioned that his 

 interest in this direction led his friend Dr Eobert M'Cormick, 

 E.N., to remember him, and to name a headland in Welling- 

 ton Channel in his honour. In the parliamentary paper, 

 "relative to the recent Arctic Expedition of 1854," will 

 be found (p. 190) a woodcut of the headland named Cape 

 M'Bain, and in illustration of M'Cormick's report of the 

 boat voyage, which he commanded during the "North 

 Star" Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin and his 

 crews. 



The bent of Dr M'Bain's mind was eminently utilitarian 

 and practical ; he dealt little in the hypothetical, so that in 

 some respects he might be considered by some as being rather 

 behind Science workers, according to the fashion of the 

 present day as regards at least their plans of working. His 

 writings were devoid of ornament ; no word painting adorned 

 his periods, and certainly it must be admitted, that he never 

 would have excelled as a popular author. In fact Dr M'Bain 

 was somewhat slow at composition ; he thought a great deal 



