We come now to the second determining influence in the life 

 of Stewart which led to his becoming a naturalist. He always 

 regarded Ralph Tate as his master, and it was the influence of that 

 enthusiastic teacher more than anything else which decided the 

 future course of his life. It was in the year 1861 when he was 

 thirty-five that he first came under Tate's influence. It is strange 

 that it was not until middle life that he found the work which was 

 to prove his life's work. 



A member of the Field Club told me the following incident. 

 When taking up the study of Botany he consulted Stewart who 

 encouraged him to do so, saying "I was forty years old myself when 

 I commenced the study, and was led to do so in this way. One 

 day I met a man on the Knock Road who asked me if a plant he 

 had in his hand was ground ivy, saying he had been told it was a 

 good remedy for consumption, and that he was searching for some 

 for a brother suffering from that complaint. I could not tell him 

 the name," said Stewart, " but I determined then that I would 

 make myself familiar with our native plants." The "forty years 

 old" in this story could only have been round numbers for he had 

 already contributed a large number of records of plants to Tate's 

 Flora Belfastiensis in 1863. 



The years i860 to 1863 were fruitful not only to Stewart but 

 to others associated with him in giving a great impetus to the 

 study of nature in Belfast. In i860 Prof. Jukes gave a course of 

 lectures on Geology in the old Music Hall, May Street. Mr. 

 George Donaldson, who as a lad often accompanied Stewart on 

 his rambles, remembers with what interest they attended these 

 lectures. Mr. William Swanston, a close friend of Stewart's since 

 1865, says, "We may safely assume that Stewart's early bent for 

 Natural Science generally, eagerly grasped the opportunities offered 

 by the Science and Art Department who sent lecturers to Belfast, 

 among others Prof. Jukes who lectured on Geology. This course 

 was followed in t86i by Mr. Ralph Tate (afterwards Professor of 



