o f Edinburgh , Session 1877 - 78 , 
515 
threw himself, with characteristic ardour, into the studies of the 
classes, winning, among other distinctions, the Greek Blackstone 
prize, which was then, and appears to he still considered, the most 
considerable honour awarded in the linguistic classes. Although 
he had been from childhood fond of nature and all natural objects, 
the bent of his mind towards science did not definitely express 
itself till he accepted, at the age of twenty, the post of head of the 
mathematical department in the Belfast Academy, then one of the 
chief foundation schools in Ireland, and of which his eldest 
brother, the Bev. Dr Bryce of Belfast (who is still living) was then 
Principal. Finding the teaching of geography to belong to his 
department, he at once saw what hardly any one had then seen, 
how important a branch of that subject physical geography 
constitutes, and perceived that to deal adequately with it a know- 
ledge of geology and mineralogy was necessary. From these he was 
led on to zoology and botany, and not only threw himself into these 
topics himself with • characteristic ardour, but formed large classes 
for their study, which were attended as well by his own pupils as 
by other young people in the town. At the same time he had 
begun to connect the teaching of natural philosophy with that of 
mathematics, explaining and illustrating by experiments the lead- 
ing principles of mechanics, pneumatics, hydrostatics, electricity, 
chemistry, and other cognate branches of inquiry. We have 
listened to so many discussions during the last few years respecting 
the necessity of giving to natural science a regular and important 
place in schools and colleges, and now see so much actually done to 
effect that object, that it is hard to realize the state of opinion and 
practice in these matters fifty years ago, when such educational 
reforms were unheard of, and little beyond Latin and Greek was 
taught in all the best schools of the United Kingdom. It needed a 
very warm love for science, and a very elevated view of the func- 
tions of education, to lead a young man in those days to introduce, on 
his own idea, so great a change in the established method of instruc- 
tion. An able teacher perpetuates himself through his disciples, 
and many eminent scientific workers trace back to Dr Bryce the 
first impulse towards, the first guidance in, the study of nature 
which they received. His services in promoting, by example and 
by argument, both in Belfast and afterwards in Glasgow, the intro- 
