1892 - 93 .] 
Chairman's Opening Address. 
9 
He was a man of genial disposition and unaffected in his 
manners. He receiv^ed the degree of LL.D. from the Universities 
of Edinburgh and Glasgow, was elected a Fellow of this Society in 
1863 and a Eellow of the Royal Society of London in 1882. He 
died on the 9th of February 1892. 
Alexander Forbes Irvine of Drum. — It is with feelings of the 
deepest regret, which will be shared by many here present, that I 
advert to the decease of Sheriff Forbes Irvine, whose stately and 
courteous presence and kindly bearing, which used to grace the 
meetings of Council and the Society, will be seen amongst us no 
more. An admirable obituary notice has been written of him, giving 
an account of his historic ancestry, for our Proceedings by Sheriff 
H]neas Mackay, to which it will be sufficient for me here to refer. 
Dr Alexander Keiller. — Of this distinguished and amiable 
physician, who was esteemed both by the profession to which he 
belonged and by his fellow-citizens, a biography has been written 
for our Proceedings by Dr T. A. G. Balfour. 
Sir George Husband Baird Macleod. — As a full obituary 
notice of this distinguished surgeon has been written for our 
Proceedings by his son, the Rev. W. H. Macleod, minister of 
Buchanan, I shall merely refer to it for the main incidents in the 
career of the deceased. 
Thomas Nelson. — As a biographical notice of him has been 
written for our Proceedings by Dr W. Scott Dalgleish, I must refer 
to it for the incidents of his life. I shall only say that he was a 
man of great insight and forethought, and of promptitude in action. 
These qualities, which belonged to him and the other members of 
the Nelson house, led to the high style of work sent out by them to 
the reading and educational world. He was a man of kindly dis- 
position, and bequeathed upwards of <£50,000 for the promotion of 
benevolent schemes in Edinburgh. He was elected a Fellow of this 
Society in 1866. 
Dr "William Forbes Skene. — He was born at Inverie on 7th 
June 1809. His father was James Skene of Rubislaw, and his 
mother a daughter of Sir William Forbes, Bart, of Pitsligo. Edu- 
cated at the High School of Edinburgh, he afterwards studied at 
the Universities of St Andrews and Edinburgh. He was admitted 
a Writer to th6 Signet in 1831, and was subsequently appointed 
