350 JOHN DUNCAN, WEAVER AND BOTANIST. 



boyhood, when he used to come to church, as already told. 

 " How he loved Botany," he exclaims, " and how he 

 enjoyed it, few could believe. Truly, in that respect, John 

 Duncan was a most remarkable exemplification of what 

 the humblest student of nature may become. To a 

 botanist, a visit to John's out-of-the-way abode was quite 

 a treat ; and I have a lively recollection of John at home. 

 Of course, one would find him weaving a process that 

 was to me new and interesting. The first visit, therefore, 

 began with a demonstration in weaving. Thereafter, with 

 evidently no reluctance, John went over with me pile after 

 pile of his hortus siccus. Every specimen had its history, 

 noted in his memory. The local floral resources he had 

 exhausted, and could tell where any rare specimen was to 

 be found. If he had it to spare, he seemed to have great 

 pleasure in parting with a specimen, nor was he slow to 

 give away a sample of a rare plant. Thinking medicinal 

 plants suitable for me, as a medical student, he gave me a 

 specimen, which I still possess, of Atropa belladonna, 

 Deadly Nightshade. He called it 'Atropia Beldonia,' 

 but what did it matter, though he occasionally mis- 

 pronounced these neck-breaking names ? Time to spare 

 for interested visitors John seemed to have in abundance. 



"That first visit was to me a rare treat, and is still 

 vividly recalled. The man himself, compared with his cir- 

 cumstances and surroundings, was perhaps a greater rarity 

 than his rarest specimens. Many a brown study have I 

 had of him and the curious place he worked in. Then, 

 John always saw his friend a good way along the road, 

 when the visit was ended, bidding him * haste ye back.' " 



Dr. Williams' cousin, the Rev. George Williams, from 



