00V 
Isaac Bay ley Balfour. 
I 
reserves combined to make his lectures singularly attractive and stimulating. 
No trouble was spared in their preparation, and the almost prodigal wealth 
of magnificent material drawn from the Garden served to render them still 
more unique and impressive. 
The ‘Notes from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh was estab¬ 
lished by Professor Balfour as an official publication, and although obstacles 
were put in its path at first it has survived all red-tape discouragement. 
Unlike many official publications, it pays its way, and some sixty-five parts, 
making thirteen volumes, have already appeared in the twenty-three years 
of its existence. It is issued at irregular intervals, depending on the rate of 
accumulation of suitable matter, and in this connexion it may be of interest 
to know that when the ‘ Annals of Botany ’ was first projected a similar form 
of publication was strongly advocated in some quarters. 
Valuable memoirs on the Primulas and Rhododendrons, towards the 
elucidation of which Balfour has contributed so much, have appeared in the 
‘ Notes ’ and also in the Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh. 
Failing health caused him to resign his appointments at Edinburgh, and 
in 1921 he came south to spend the evening of his life, not in leisure but in 
further work. Almost to the last he was engaged on Asiatic collections 
of Primulas and Rhododendrons, groups in which he was recognized as the 
greatest living authority. The hopes entertained by his friends that relief 
from official cares and duties might result in convalescence \\fere not destined 
to be fulfilled, and in spite of every effort, and the devoted care of his wife, 
the end came on November 30, 1922. 
Balfour was a fine botanist, an exceptionally able administrator, and a 
man of wide intellectual culture. Besides all these he was a staunch friend 
and a wise counsellor, and no one having enjoyed the privilege of knowing 
him intimately can ever forget him. Really great men are very rare, and 
Isaac Bayley Balfour was one of them. J. B. F. 
