James William Hrelenus Trail. 47 
age his mind turned to natural history, and while a student he 
arranged and added to the collection of insects in the University 
Museum. His bent was not encouraged, but when he had completed 
his arts course, he was permitted to proceed to the study of medicine. 
Fired by the works of the early explorers of tropical South America, 
he hoped that an appointment as doctor to some expedition in that 
region would give him the opportunity of definitely adopting a 
scientific career. This hope was exceeded when in 1873 he went 
to Brazil as botanist to the Amazon Steam Navigation Company, 
and there spent two years in exploring the tributaries of the 
Amazon. In 1876 he accepted the post of botanist to the Colony 
of British Guiana, but in 1877, before he had sailed, he was 
appointed Regius Professor of Botany at Aberdeen University, 
succeeding George Dickie as the second occupant of the Chair. 
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1893, and was 
President of Section K of the British Association in 1911. At his 
death after a short illness on the 18th of September, 1919, he was 
senior member of the Senatus of the University, with forty-two 
years’ service. 
Professor Trail’s scientific work began with his papers on the 
Palms of Brazil in th e Journal of Botany 1876-7, and was continued 
by a long series of contributions to the natural history of Scotland 
in the Annals of Scottish Natural History. In recent years he was 
most interested in the changes occurring in the native and introduced 
flora. He believed that these could best be traced and explained 
by the compilation and comparison of exact records of distribution, 
and devoted his energies to the task of amassing the necessary 
data. The material thus collected forms an invaluable record of 
the present distribution of the flowering plants, of the plant-galls, 
and of certain groups of fungi in Scotland. Carried to the finest 
point, his methods resulted in a study of the flora of the City Parish 
of Aberdeen, which will be published by the Aberdeen Natural 
History and Antiquarian Association. In it, the changes, mainly 
due to the influence of man, are minutely traced from the time of 
the earliest records. A collector of insects in his youth, he 
remained a keen entomologist with a wide knowledge of British 
forms. The galls formed a link between his two interests. All his 
work was permeated by the spirit of the early naturalists, which 
found its satisfaction in the observation of living things in the 
field. 
The journey to South America coloured his whole outlook, 
and this was seen especially in his teaching. For illustrations of 
