ACADEMY OP SC. EN C1S] CALIFORNIA 265 



But these plans were not realized. Three days later he wrote again: 



Since I wrote you, some of my symptoms have developt far enough to warrant my physician in a diagnosis — 

 a brain trouble of apoplectic character. So there is warning of more serious trouble — sometime, and while I 

 may still do a lot of work I can't depend on it. . . . It is hard to relinquish my varied interests, but there seems 

 no other way. 



On April 4 he wrote, less formally, to one of his sons: 



You will be surprised to learn that I am quitting California, and don't expect to return. I have had dis- 

 quieting symptoms for some weeks, and the doctor has at last diagnosed the trouble as apoplectic— my general 

 appearance to the contrary notwithstanding. Now an apoplectic tendency means a collapse sooner or later, 

 and I should hate to have it occur away from kin and old friends, and so I am going east. . . . Fortunately 

 my work redily lets me go. The laboratory I drop altogether. . . . The debris investigation has reacht 

 such a stage that it can go to report without material loss. I have pland more field work but it is not essential. 

 So I shall devote myself to the report, and I am sloughing off all other undertakings so as to complete that if 

 possible. I am not visibly ill, but tire easily and have lerned to rest frequently. Have very little discomfort 

 and am still enjoying life. Find it a grind to have to think so much about myself as I have recently. 



In spite of the comfortable quarters that Gilbert enjoyed at Berkeley, the last quoted 

 letter shows that he did not feel altogether at home there. On April 11, accompanied by E. C. 

 Murphy, his assistant in the hydraulic laboratory, he took the "Overland Limited" and reached 

 his sister's home at Jackson, Mich., on April 14. There he stayed through the summer. A few 

 days after his arrival a member of the national survey who had been for a time associated with 

 some of his work in California came from Washington at his request and took notes of various 

 matters which the invalid wished to place on record so that, should he be unable to complete his 

 study, what he had done might not be wholly lost. His strength was so reduced that after 

 talking for 15 or 20 minutes he felt exhausted and had to rest for an hour or more; yet by dint 

 of returning to the task several times a day for over a week, about 100 pages of notes were 

 written down. His control of mind and memory at this time of distress was remarkable. He 

 never uttered a word of complaint, but addressed himself as a matter of"duty to preserving the 

 work he had done. Although living from day to day under a great shadow, his serenity was 

 unruffled and his clearness of vision undimmed. At a low ebb physically, he still exhibited the 

 extraordinary self-control and the unselfish philosophy that his life had for years before so 

 beautifully exemplified. At each successive interview the subject was taken up where it 

 had been dropped before, without repetition of matter or interruption of logical sequence. The 

 notes thus came to contain a consecutive account of his program of work; but fortunately his 

 subsequent recovery made it unnecessary to call upon them. 



So serious had his condition become after reaching Jackson that an endeared friend, as 

 well as his elder son, made long journeys to spend successive weeks with him in the second half 

 of April; but then, instead of failing altogether as he had feared, his health slowly improved. 

 On June 17 he replied to a correspondent's inquiry: 



At present it does not seem probable that I shall be able to attend the scientific meetings next winter. 

 ... I fear you will find my interests in your future projects passiv rather than activ. ... I am, however, 

 accomplishing a little at the desk. Having whittled down my responsibilities to a narrow point — namely, the 

 preparation of a report on my California work — I am able to make sufficient progress to keep cheerful. 



After a temporary setback in the following September, he went to Washington to spend the 

 winter in the Merriam household as in previous years, and there, with habits of industry gained 

 during a life steadily devoted to work, he had the hard experience of laying aside his usual 

 activities and waiting as patiently as possible until they could be resumed. He was still dis- 

 couraged at times lest he should never again be able to take up his unfinished work, but showed 

 great patience and fortitude in observing all rules for the regaining of his health and the restora- 

 tion of his normal powers. His recovery depended on absolute fidelity to a rigid schedule, day 

 by day; every act was given its proper measure, and he held to his time-table like the stoic that 

 he was. His long-time friends, Prof, and Mrs. J. H. Comstock, of Cornell University, with 

 whom he had spent a part of many vacations since 1884, were his hosts at their summer cottage, 

 the "Hermitage," on Cayuga Lake, through the warmer months of 1910. It was there that, 

 between the light tasks in simple housework which he shared with his hosts, he first began to 

 write again and prepared outlines of his debris report as if to test his strength ; he found encour- 

 agement in his success, but the outlines were all written over again a year later. 



