James Britten

“ Hooker's place as botanical lecturer at Glasgow, and in 1845 was appointed professor of botany in that university, leaving Arlary in 1846, and taking up his residence in Glasgow. In 1850 he was associated with Sir William Hooker in the sixth edition of the 'British Flora.' About this time he took up the study of Diatoms, of which he formed a large and valuable collection, publishing several memoirs on the subject. In 1868 his health, which had previously begun to fail, gave way, and the delivery of his university course had to be abandoned. ”

“ In 1864 he undertook to organise and superintend the forest department in Bengal, but after two years he was forced to abandon this work by the pressure of his other duties. In 1868 he was compelled by serious illness to return home, but subsequently recovered, and devoted himself with much energy to working out from herbaria and his own collections the flora of India. ”

“ They went to Brazil, where they remained two years, making collections of plants and seeds. In 1817 Bowie was ordered to proceed to the Cape; here he worked with much energy, taking journeys into the interior, and sending home large collections of living and dried plants, as well as of drawings; the last are in the Kew herbarium, the dried specimens for the most part in the British Museum. A vote of the House of Commons having reduced the sum granted for botanical collectors, Bowie was recalled in 1823, taking up his residence at Kew. ”

“ Aiton was one of the founders and an active fellow of the Royal Horticultural Society. To its ‘Transactions’ he contributed a paper on the cultivation of the cucumber, for which a silver medal was awarded him in 1817. A lithographed portrait by L. Poyot is in existence. ”

“ On his father's death the Duchess of Hamilton took him under her patronage, and wished him to study law; but he preferred to turn his attention to medicine. He went to Leyden to study under Boerhaave, where he made the acquaintance of Dr. Alexander Monro. On the return of the two to Edinburgh, they revived the medical lectures in the university, Alston being appointed lecturer in botany and materia medica, and also (1716) superintendent of the botanical gardens: these posts he held until his death, which took place 22 Nov. ”

“ But the exposure connected with garden work proved too much for his health, and Professor Balfour appointed him to an assistantship in the herbarium connected with the Botanic Garden. Here he improved his opportunities and became well acquainted with botany ”

“ He is described by Loudon as ‘one of the most modest and unassuming of men;’ but ‘no one ever came in contact with him,’ says another writer, ‘without being impressed by his amiable disposition, his great knowledge, his extraordinary memory, and his willingness to oblige.’ From the time of his retirement from Oxford Baxter did nothing which brought him into public notice, and when he died at Oxford, 1 Nov. ”

“ He was vicar of Oakley Raynes and Goldington, Bedfordshire, and chaplain to the Marquis of Tweeddale. In 1798 he published a ‘Flora Bedfordiensis,’ and in 1807 a volume of sermons entitled, ‘Parochial Divinity.’ He also wrote a ‘Monody on the Death of Horatio, Lord Nelson,’ in 1805. ”

“ In 1821 he went to France, where he worked in the Paris herbaria, and published two papers on mosses. He afterwards visited Spain and Russia, and, on his return to Scotland, married in 1831 Miss Mary Hay Barclay, of Paris, Perthshire. ”

“ The Society of Arts voted him a silver medal in 1798 for a paper upon the plants in the garden at St. Vincent. He contemplated the production of a flora of the Caribee islands, some sheets of which he sent to Banks ”

“ Jaundice set in, and he died on 17 April 1868, and was buried in the Lighthill cemetery, Glasgow, He left three sons and five daughters. His large collections subsequently became the property of the university of Glasgow. ”