SCOTLAND lost one of her finest sons in the death of Professor Donald McLarty on July 12. Born in 1940, a native of Ardrishaig and a graduate of Aberdeen University, he adorned the medical profession to which he gave such notable service.

His specialisation was in endocrinology, particularly in diabetes. He served in several hospitals in this country, and in 1977, despite the possibility of a consultancy here, he decided to go to Africa, to Tanzania. His reasoning was that there were more doctors in Glasgow than in the whole of Tanzania, so he would go where the need was greatest.

His interests in Africa had been with him since boyhood, and this interest developed into a sense of call from God to serve in Tanzania.

It was in Tanzania that his greatest work was done. He initiated and developed a project which has attracted the attention of African governments and international agencies. He and his team researched and collated information about the incidence of mortality resulting from diabetes and related non-communicable diseases, thus providing facts and figures and information not previously available in any sub-Saharan African country.

It was for this work that he was awarded the OBE. All of this started when Professor McLarty opened a diabetic clinic in Dar-es-Salaam and began to treat this disease which, if not treated, is fatal. He was still at his desk working on the project until two days before his death.

Professor McLarty was not only a good doctor, he was a good man, humble, gentle, and kind, whose influence has been and still is an example and inspiration to many. The supreme influence in his own life was his sincere and deep Christian faith, and he was the kind of Christian who, to quote the Bible which he loved ``adorned the doctrine of God his saviour in all things''.

His epitaph could be that said of George Fox by William Penn, but truly descriptive of Donald McLarty, and was printed on the order of service used at his funeral: ``He was a man that God embued with a clear and wonderful depth, a discerner of others' spirits and very much master of his own. Truly it was a testimony, he knew and lived nearer to the Lord than other men. I can say I never saw him out of his place or not a match for every service or occasion. For in all things he acquitted himself like a man, yea, a strong man, a new and heavenly minded man . . . so meek, contented, modest, easy, steady, tender. It was a pleasure to be in his company.'' If that was true of George Fox, it is also true of Donald McLarty.