264 
PROCEEDINGS OF THE PERTHSHIRE SOCIETY OF NATURAL SCIENCE. 
remember that the Society exists not entirely for the mere 
amusement, nor even for the education, of its members. I 
do not wish for a moment to underrate these. The pro¬ 
viding of innocent amusement must always be praise¬ 
worthy, and much more so the promotion of education. 
The latter, though with us necessarily confined to the 
natural sciences, will yet, by teaching and encouraging 
habits of observation and induction, surely result in other¬ 
wise benefitting both the individual and the community. 
But, however desirable these ends may be, they do not 
altogether form sufficient grounds for the existence of a 
scientific Society. To establish a true claim for existence, 
a Society must to the best of its ability take part in the 
general work of science, and endeavour to increase the 
sum total of our knowledge of Nature. 
April 1st, 1886. 
F. Bochanan White, M.D., F.L.S., President, 
in the Chair. 
NEW MEMBERS. 
The following were elected :— 
Mr Matthew, Walnut Grove; Miss Macdonald, Kin- 
fauns Gardens ; Mr James Lochhead, Blairgowrie ; and 
Mr D. S. Lowson, Blairgowrie. 
Mr John Wilson, teacher, Arngask, was elected an 
Associate Member. 
donations. 
The following were intimated :— 
Perthshire birds—from Mr J. G. Millais; a blackbird, 
much spotted with white—from Mr James Young, Barnhill. 
THE LATE MR STURROCK, RATTRAY. 
Dr Buchanan White read the following obituary 
notice :— 
Before we proceed to the business of the evening, I have 
a very melancholy duty to perform. I have, with feelmgs 
of deep sorrow, to record the death of Mr Abram Sturrock. 
Ever enthusiastic in promoting its interests, the Society 
has lost in him one of its best members, while those of us 
who knew him personally have been bereaved of a dear 
friend. Before giving a short sketch of Mr Sturrock’s 
history as a naturalist—the only part of his history with 
which we, as a Society, are properly concerned—I wish to 
say a few words about his career apart from science, since 
the history of his life is so illustrative, not only of the 
nature and estimable qualities of the man, but of some 
striking features of the national character. 
Abram Sturrock was born in September, 1S43, at Pada- 
narum, a small village not far from Forfar. He was one 
of a family of fourteen, and though his parents had never 
any superfluity of worldly wealth, but rather the reverse, 
they contrived to give all their children a good education. 
Abram, says the friend to whom I am indebted for much 
of this information, often spoke of what his mother did, 
and was obliged to do, in order that her children should 
remain at school. His elementary education was received 
at Oraicbie School, about three miles from Forfar. From 
that he passed to the East Burgh School at Forfar, where 
