Page:Journal of botany, British and foreign, Volume 34 (1896).djvu/153

 133 COL. HENRY MAURICE DRUMMOND-HAY. A FINE example of the type of naturalist with wide interests, now too rare, passed away on January Brd, 1896, in the person of Col. H. M. Drummond-Hay, of Seggieden, near Perth. Born in 1814, he was a sou of Admiral Sir Adam Drummond, his mother being a daughter of the fourth Duke of Atholl. He assumed the name of Hay on his marriage with the heiress of Seggieden. He joined the 42nd Highlanders in 1832, and remained in the army till 1851, serving much of the time abroad, chiefly in Malta, the Bermudas, and Nova Scotia. Returning to Perthshire, he served from 1853 to 1872 in the Perthshire Reserve Forces. A strong taste for natural history showed itself from an early period of his life, and was not lessened to its close. Probably most of his interest was given to birds, especially to their habits of nesting and migration, his residence abroad being fully utilised in such studies ; but he made an extensive collection of lishes, illus- trated by drawings, at the Bermudas (which was sent by him to the American Fishery Commission in 1860, and was much commended) ; and he was also keenly interested in the land and fresh-water mollusca. Botany also received attention from him, though in a less degree ; and he gave valuable aid in the exploration of the flora of Perthshire, from the depths of the lochs to the hilltops. His published papers, most of which appeared in the Scottish Naturalist, of which he was a warm supporter, chiefly relate to the birds of Scotland; but among them we find a few on botany, such as "An improved Method of Preparing Plants for the Herbarium " (1872) ; " On the Flowering Plants of the Carse of Gowrie, in Perthshire" (1874); "Notes on a Botanical Excursion to the Breadalbane Mountains, Perthshire " (1875); and "Effects of the past Winter (1878-79) and present Summer (1879) on Hard-wooded Plants." All these show close and accurate practical acquaintance with botany. His name was commemorated by his friend and co- worker. Dr. Buchanan White, in the variety Drummond- Hayi of Rhifianthus Crista-galli L., first observed in a joint excursion in Perthshire. He took a very active part in promoting the welfare of the Perthshire Society of Natural Science ; and the admirable Museum formed by the Society owes much to his labours on its behalf. He was for several years its Honorary Curator, and he made the office no sinecure, spending much time and care in the collections, the birds and nests being his own peculiar charge. He had the great pleasure of living to witness the successful completion, and formal opening by Sir Wilham Flower during the present winter, of an extension that has more than doubled the original size of the Museum. J. W. H. Teail.