 In 1837 he furnished the account of his parish of Stevenston to the 'Statistical Account' of the parishes of Scotland.At the disruption of the Scottish church in 1843 he joined the Free Church of Scotland, and became minister at Saltcoats but the change involved a reduction of income from 350"l.", to 120"l." a year, and the loss of his garden, to which he was much attached.Its place was taken by the seashore, and many hundred sets of algæ prepared by his children under his direction were sold to raise a fund of 200"l." in support of the church and schools.