348 CONCLUSION. [ch. xviii. 



No especial change occurred during the beginning of 

 April, but on Saturday loth he was seized with giddiness 

 while sitting at dinner in the evening, and fainted in an 

 attempt to reach his sofa. On the 17th he was again better, 

 and in my temporary absence recorded for me the progress 

 of an experiment in which I was engaged. During the 

 night of April 18th, about a quarter to twelve, he had a 

 severe attack and passed into a faint, from which he was 

 brought back to consciousness with great difficulty. He 

 seemed to recognise the approach of death, and said, " I am 

 not the least afraid to die." All the next morning he suf- 

 fered from terrible nausea and faintness, and hardly rallied 

 before the end came. 



He died at about four o'clock on Wednesday, April 19th, 

 1882, in the 74th year of his age. 



I close the record of my father's life with a few words of 

 retrospect added to the manuscript of his Autobiography in 

 1879 : 



" As for myself, I believe that I have acted rightly in 

 steadily following and devoting my life to Science. I feel 

 no remorse from having committed any great sin, but have 

 often and often regretted that I have not done more direct 

 good to my fellow creatures." 



