JoHN MACcCKAY’s LETTERS. 49 
Mr. Peter MacIntosh the Gardiner at Blair will show you through 
the Dins where you may observe++Pyrola secunda Aspl viride 
and other rare plants He may also direct you to Bennaglo and 
Glentilt where the Azalia procumbens grows in the greatest abun- 
dance as also Gnaphalium sylvaticum Cornus suecica, Veronica 
saxatilis Polygonum viviparum+Toefieldia palustris+ + Carex 
pauciflora Gentiana amarella and campestris Carex capillaris 
Juncus trifidus Dryas octopetala 
South from Dalwhinnie between that and the head of Loch 
Erroch, the+ + Carex pauciflora in plenty and which I much want, 
+ Drosera longifolia on the hills to the N. of the Loch+ Veronica 
alpina + + Gnaphalium + sylvaticum + Lycopodium  annotinum 
Betula nana &c. 
I do not attempt an analysis of Mackay’s botanical work. 
Our record of what he did betokens a vast deal of work regarding 
which we have no information. In the short span of his life 
he advanced materially the knowledge of the plants of Scotland 
and is entitled to rank with George Don as an_ investigator 
of its flora. If he is less known than his compatriot we may 
find the reason in his early death and in the eclipse of his 
reputation by that of Don around whose name have circled so 
many controversies which are referred to below. The relative 
merits of the two botanists do not call for discussion by me here. 
The men were a remarkable couple of enthusiasts—one of finer, 
the other of rougher fibre—firm friends to the end of the days of 
the younger. The preceding pages will furnish botanists 
with such data. as are available for an estimate of Mackay’s 
character and life-work, as the succeeding pages will provide 
similar data in regard to George Don. The only further com- 
ment I gould make is that all the evidence we possess goes to 
show that John Mackay was no less gifted than his brother, 
James Townsend Mackay, and by his death Scotland lost a field- 
botanist who might in the end have dealt with its flora in the 
comprehensive and thorough manner in which his brother treated 
that of Ireland. 
George Don. 
Although John Mackay died in April 1802, some time see 
before his successor was appointed, or at least entered upon 
D 
