344 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
Professor Blyth of the West of Scotland Technical College. Dr Ferguson 
was also the author of several articles on natural philosophy subjects in 
the earlier editions of Chambers s Encyclopaedia. 
Amid all this varied and strenuous activity he found time to take, with 
the keenness and energy characteristic of him, a prominent part in political 
affairs in Edinburgh and the East and North of Scotland. Details as to 
his labours in this field were given in the full and interesting obituary 
notice of him which appeared in the Scotsman newspaper, and need not be 
repeated here. But, the politician apart, it may be permissible to quote 
here from that notice a few lines which reveal personal traits of the man : 
“ Dr Ferguson took a keen interest in politics. . . . He was one of the most 
indefatigable of members and office-bearers. In spite of his years, no 
weather was too inclement, and no meeting was too late, for him to attend. 
. . . Frequently he presided at public meetings, and the well-chosen 
character of his remarks and his conduct of the business always gave 
satisfaction. ... In addition to such services, which he gave freely, he was 
also a generous subscriber to the . . . party funds.” 
In 1892 he received from the University of Edinburgh the honorary 
degree of Doctor of Laws, in recognition, as the Dean of Faculty said in 
presenting him, of the importance of his educational and scientific work. 
As a teacher and headmaster Dr Ferguson stood in the very front rank. 
He understood boys, and had that sympathetic insight into both their good 
points and their failings that is one of the best possessions of the “ born 
teacher.” We his pupils soon came to feel that it would be a shame — 
“ low ” we ourselves would have called it — to be “ mean ” or “ caddish ” or 
“slackers” with “the Doctor” (as we called him), who himself played the 
game so keenly, so straightly, and so fairly. Thus he succeeded in establish- 
ing a high and hearty and thoroughly healthy tone in his school. His wide 
range of attainments stood him in good stead there ; for in staff emergencies 
he could and did take, with much acceptance among the boys, the higher 
classes of the school in any subject in the curriculum. But his own special 
subjects were mathematics and science, and of these he was a supremely 
good teacher. Many of his pupils who went on to more advanced work in 
these subjects found reason to be deeply grateful for the thoroughness of 
the grounding they had received under Dr Ferguson. He was one of the 
pioneers in the teaching of practical experimental science in schools. Very 
few secondary schools in the early ’sixties had science laboratories. But 
Dr Ferguson contrived, in spite of serious limitations as to suitable accommo- 
dation, to fit up one at the Edinburgh Institution ; and in it, cramped and 
ill-equipped though it was in contrast with what is nowadays demanded. 
