48 The Late David Sydney Fish, Botanist. [Sess. 



THE LATE DAVLD SYDNEY FISH, BO TAXES T. 



By The President. 



By the death of Mr Fish, Secretary and Garden Superin- 

 tendent to the Horticultural Society at Alexandria, in Egypt, 

 this Society has lost an esteemed friend as well as a valuable 

 member. He died at Alexandria on the 13th November 

 1912, at the early age of thirty-one. Mr Fish came to Edin- 

 burgh when quite a boy, and before leaving school had 

 botanised pretty carefully the surrounding district of the 

 town. He joined this Society in 1901, and soon became 

 one of its most enthusiastic members. Of a kindly and 

 genial disposition, he made many friends among the members 

 of this Society. At our meeting in January 1904 Mr Fish 

 read an interesting paper on " The Barer Woodland Plants of 

 Scotland," and in December of the following year another on 

 " Some Features of Interest in Scottish Mountain Plants.'' 

 Both are published in our ' Transactions,' with illustrations 

 reproduced from the author's own negatives. Mr Fish was 

 an artist as well as a botanist, and had the gift of making a 

 photographic print that could stand the examination of an 

 expert. He was not only a keen and interested observer of 

 plants, but he had the power of writing about them. When 

 quite a youth he contributed to various botanic and gardening 

 magazines, and read papers to the Eoyal and Scottish Horti- 

 cultural Societies. His literary talent was inherited from his 

 father, Mr D. T. Fish, editor of ' Popular Gardening ' : and no 

 one who has seen the exquisite drawings of flowers and fruits 

 by his mother can doubt that he derived his artistic taste 

 from her. Mr Fish was trained as a scientific horticulturist 

 at the Eoyal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, and in 1906 was 

 appointed Secretary and Garden Superintendent to the Horti- 

 cultural Society at Alexandria, in Egypt. There he soon 

 made great improvements by importing new trees and plants, 

 and introducing new methods in the growth of flowers and 

 vegetables. He also wrote various papers describing features 

 of Egyptian cultivation, which are published in the ' Trans- 

 actions ' of the Eoyal Horticultural Society. Mr Fish is the 



