JOHN BACON. 421 



In 1857, when, in consequence of increasing work in the Undergradu- 

 ate Course, the Erving Trofessor in Harvard College was relieved of 

 all duties at the INIedical School, Dr. Bacon was ajjpointed Professor 

 of Chemistry in that School and remained a member of the Medical 

 Faculty of Harvard University until 1871. As a lecturer, he com- 

 manded the respect and attention of the students, and in the laboratory 

 he won their confidence and esteem. He was a successful experi- 

 menter, and combined great clearness of thought with felicity of 

 illustration. 



Dr. Bacon was a man of slight build, and seems never to have en- 

 joyed robust health. He resigned first his position in the Hospital 

 and then his professorship, on account of failing strength ; and a fever 

 which he passed through soon afterwards still further impaired his en- 

 ergies. A man of quiet habits and reticent manners, he made few new 

 friends, but was beloved heartily by those who knew his virtues and 

 the warmth of his affections. After the death of his sistei-, Mrs. Neale, 

 and later of her husband, leaving him the last of the household, his ill 

 health, aggravated by depression of spirits, led him to shrink more than 

 ever within himself. He saw only a few old friends, and sought com- 

 panionship chiefly in his books. Plis closing years were clouded also 

 by financial ti'oubles, which conspired to aggravate his morbid condi- 

 tion. His last stronor love was for his Alma Mater. In one of his 

 latest notes, written by him but a few hours before his death, were these 

 words : " Save out of the wreck all you can for my beloved College." 

 It had been the great desire of Dr. Bacon's life to found at the Uni- 

 versity a Professorship of Chemistry, to be known as the Bacon Pro- 

 fessorship, and to this the note referred. The word '• wreck " plainly 

 shows the great weakness of his condition just before his decease. He 

 died, November 28, 1881, at his residence on Somerset Street, Boston, 

 aged sixty-four. There was no wreck. Dr. Bacon left the greater 

 part at least of the considerable estate he had inherited from his father ; 

 but unfortunately he had not so ordered his affairs as to make his last 

 wish effective. 



Papers by John Bacon, M. D. 



1. Polythalamia in Sand from tlie Sahara Desert. Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist., 



v., p. 402; also Proc. Bost. Nat. Hist. Soc, II., 1846, p. 164. 



2. Microscopic Examination of Gun-Cotton. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., II., 



1847, p. 195 ; Araer. Journ. Sci., 2 ser.. IV., 1847, p. 44.5. 



3. Observations on the Dumb-bell Urinary Deposit. Amer. Journ. Med. Sci., 



n. s., XXL, 1851, p. 297. 



4. Urinary Deposit of Epithelial Nuclei. Amer. Journ. Med. Sci., n. s., XXIV., 



1852, p. 378. 



