139 

 OBITUARY NOTICE. 



THE REVEREND ROBERT BOOG WATSON, 

 LL.D., F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.S.E. 



Bv EDGAR A. SMITH, I.S.O., and J. R. i.e B. TOMLIN, M.A. 



WITH PORTRAIT. 



(Read before the Society, Nov. gth, igio). 



Our science has suffered another great loss by the death of the Rev. 

 R. Boog Watson, at Edinburgh, on June 13th, 1910, after a long 

 period of ill-health, in the eighty-seventh year of his age. He had 

 a severe illness early last year, from which, however, he rallied 

 wonderfully, but his strength had failed for many months, and he 

 passed away very peacefully. 



Born on September 26th, 1823, he was educated at the Edinburgh 

 Academy and at Lille, and took his B.A. at Edinburgh University. 

 After a course of study at the New College, Edinburgh, he was 

 licensed by the Free Presbytery in 1847, and in 1854, on the out- 

 break of the Crimean War, he went out as Chaplain to the 93rd 

 Highlanders. Invalided home after a nearly fatal attack of dysentery, 

 he recovered sufficiently to undertake garrison work at Dover in 1856. 

 In this year he married Janet Cowan, daughter of the founder of the 

 firm of Alexander Cowan & Sons, papermakers, and immediately 

 afterwards went out to India, and acted as Chaplain to the Highland 

 Brigade in the Mutiny. 



Owing to a return of his illness he was again invalided home. 



In 1864 he accepted an appointment to the Scots' Church in 

 Madeira, and in the course of his ten years' tenure of that office was 

 enabled to investigate the remarkably rich land molluscau fauna of 

 the Madeiran group, in co-operation with Lowe and Wollaston, as 

 well as the marine shells. On returning to Edinburgh, he devoted 

 himself chiefly to his favourite sciences of geology and conchology ; 

 and in 1876, at the request of his friend. Sir Charles Wyville Thom- 

 son, he undertook to work out all the moUusca which had just been 

 brought back by H.M.S. "Challenger" — with the exception of the 

 Cephalopoda and Pteropoda. 



In 1878, however, the failure of the City of Glasgow Bank com- 

 pelled him to give up his well-earned leisure and to return to work ; and 

 he accepted the call of the Free Church congregation at Cardross, 

 Dumbartonshire, where he remained till his retirement from active 

 work in 1898. 



Residence in a country district of course deprived him of easy 

 access to books and collections, and he therefore returned all the 



