NE TE E. 
pet 
lead, and almost constantly kept at the top 
of the class, his accuracy and attention 
being such as to give him a decided supe- 
riority over his compeers, one pf whom in 
particular, possessed great natural powers, 
added to a strong spirit of emulation, a 
sentiment which the simplicity and mild- 
ness of young Jack's nature prevented 
- his entering into, or even comprehending. 
When, at alater period, his rival, urged 
to extraordinary exertion, sometimes suc- 
ceeded attaining the highest place, and it 
was endeavoured to stimulate the subject d 
of our memoir y similar motives, he 
mildly answered, ** I shall do my best, 
if he can do better, why should he 
not?" His progress in Latin may be 
judged by the fact, that he not only read 
Virgil fluently, but translated several pas- of 
sages of the Eclogues into English verse, 
at nine years of age. Without any remis- 
sion of ardour in his classical studies, he 
soon after commenced the study of Botany, 
and of the French language, in both of 
which he made great and rapid progress: 
the former was his amusement and plea- 
sure, in which he was kindly assisted by the 
amiable and respectable professor of Na- 
tural Philosophy, Mr. Duncan, a man whose 
Tefined and congenial mind, enabled him 
to detect in the promise of the bud, the 
future beauty and excellence of the blos- 
Som. This worthy person loved and es- 
. teemed his young pupil, and encouraged 
his taste for the study of plants, in which 
he was his only instructor, for if was not 
until he became himself a master in the 
Science, at least with respect to British 
Botany, that young Jack had ever attended 
any lectures on the subject. His kind in- 
. Structor farther recommended to his atten- 
tion, Lee's Elements of Botany, and send- 
ing him into the fields to seek for plants, 
* m dia him to compare the specimens with 
the descriptions in the Genera Planta- 
ue Tum of Linneus, and in Lightfoot's Flora 
—. Scotica ; a last appeal, in cases of diffi- 
. culty, being permitted to his accomplished 
Master. He also preserved the specimens, 
With the names and characters -o 
attached. This collection, consisting o! 
MEMOIR OF THE LATE MR. WILLIAM JACK. 
123 
several hundred well dried plants, having 
been accidentally destroyed, he determined 
to represent in colours some of the most 
striking of our native productions, and ac- 
cordingly, without any instruction in the 
art, boldly commenced filling a volume, 
which, though not perhaps executed in the 
best style of design, has yet been com- 
mended by scientific Botanists for the ex- 
treme accuracy of its representations, It 
was not his fondness for the art of drawing 
that - him thus to employ - time, p his 
Fi T th 
in iwich he delighted : he was so keenly . 
alive to beauty of form and colour, that 
they left an indelible impression on his 
mind, so that he never forgot a plant 
which he had once seen, and a single leaf 
it even would recall the whole of its 
characters to his remembrance. 
The classical education of William Jack 
was conducted by Mr. M‘Lachlan, an ex- 
cellent scholar, then head master of the 
Grammar School in Old Aberdeen; while 
there, he maintained his pre-eminence in 
the class over many talented lads of supe- 
rior age; and when twelve years old, had 
made so much progress, that his master 
declared him to be fit to enter the Greek 
class at King's College. Having attended 
the lectures on opel E ve puer: 
dur ing thet 
the study of Medicine at fourteen, and was 
admitted a member of the Juvenile Medi- 
cal Society, after a strict examination. 
Though zealous in the pursuit of Medical 
knowledge as his future profession, yet his 
mind was more bent on acquiring general 
information, and thence he applied with 
great alacrity to Natural Philosophy, which 
formed the subject of the third College 
Session, ing drawings of all those mo- 
dels of edt which illustrate the me- 
chanical principles 
Having complied his college career, 
and taken the degree of M. A. at the age 
of sixteen, this youth was prevented by 
an attack of sa fever from proceeding 
to prosecute his medical 
scenes, int spent the winter at home, 
f during which time his excellent nen 
g 
