1859. MONUMENTAL CROSS. 501 



IN MEMORY OF 



GEORGE WILSON, M.D. 



PROFESSOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH, 



AND 



DIRECTOR OF THE INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM OF SCOTLAND. 

 BORN FEBRUARY 21, 1818. 

 DIED NOVEMBER 22, 1859. 



THEM THAT HONOUR ME I WILL HONOUR. 



At its base is the emblem of his " dear museum," as expressed 

 in more than one printed lecture. "When that Museum 

 shall be erected, I will ask its architect to sculpture on its front 

 an emblematical device, namely, a circle, to imply that the 

 Museum represents the industry of the whole world ; within 

 the circle, an equilateral triangle, the respective sides of which 

 shall denote the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, from 

 which industrial art gathers its materials ; within the triangle 

 an open hand, as the symbol -of the transforming forces which 

 change those materials ; and in the palm of that hand an eye, 

 selecting the materials which shall be transformed." l 



" I hope" he said of the museum to a young lady in 1856 

 " it is to become a great and famous institution, and that, un- 

 numbered years hence, when the daisies have covered me for 

 many a season, and you are a venerable lady with white hair, 

 you will walk with some grandchild, as gentle and kindly as 

 yourself, around its well-filled halls, and show her all the 

 wonders of the museum." The daisies do cover him now ; and 

 in spring, snowdrops, symbolical alike of him and of the glorious 

 resurrection to come, arise, and mutely minister comforting 

 thoughts to the visitors of that quiet retreat, where, though in 



1 ' On the Industrial Museum of Scotland in its Relation to Commercial Enterprise.' 

 A Lecture delivered to the Merchant Company of Edinburgh, and printed for private 

 circulation. 



