48 
MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 
Dr. Walker’s own lectures were much esteemed 
for the clear and scientific manner in which he con- 
veyed his information, joined to his very superior 
acquirements in natural history ; notwithstanding a 
dry and formal manner, he interested his students 
in no common degree in the pursuits he passionately 
loved, and created an era in the history of that 
science in Scotland : so much may a teacher effect 
when he brings his whole heart to his business. 
In 1781 he printed, for the use of his class, 
“ Schediasma Fossilium,” and in 1 782, “ Delineatio 
Fossilium ; and in 1 788 he delivered an admirable 
introductory' lecture on the utility and progress of 
natural history and manner of philosophizing, which 
was afterwards printed, and appears among his 
tracts. But it was not till 1792 that a complete 
syllabus of the course was published, under the title 
of “ Institutes of Natural History.” 
Early in 1783, Dr. Walker was translated from 
Moffat to Colinton, where he was admitted Feb. 13. 
In the same year, Principal Robertson having ma- 
tured the plan of a society, upon the model of some 
of the foreign academies, proposing for its object 
the cultivation of every branch of science, erudition, 
and taste, it was carried into effect, and the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh was incorporated by charter 
from the King, 1 783. It comprehended almost all 
the men eminent for science and literature in Scot- 
land, and Dr. Walker was one of the first members 
in the management ; he was very active, and many of 
his essays illustrate the volumes of their Transactions 
