AITON, WILLIAM Scottish botanist, was born near Hamilton in 1731, and died on Feb. 2, 1793. As director of Kew Gardens (1759-93) he effected many improvements, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants there cultivated. A second and enlarged edition of the Hortus was brought out in 1810-13 by his eldest son, WILLIAM TOWNSEND AITON (1766-1849), who succeeded him at Kew.