WILLIAM DWIGHT WHITNEY. 585 



The relation, furthermore, which he held to the Scientific School, 

 he felt was of advantage to himself in many ways. He has more than 

 once assured me that his connection with it, his intimate acquaintance 

 with the spirit which pervaded it, his knowledge of the work accom- 

 plished by it, had done more than any other one thing to broaden his 

 mind on the whole subject of intellectual training ; to dispel from it the 

 notion that there was but one kind of education in the world ; to free 

 it, in particular, from the illiberality which, in the case of some, is the 

 most conspicuous result of an exclusive devotion to what they desig- 

 nate as liberal studies. Another incidental result of this connection 

 with the School was that it led to the preparation of a series of excel- 

 lent text-books. These have played a most important part in putting 

 the instruction in modern languages on a higher and more scientific 

 plane than it had ever before enjoyed in this, or for that matter in any 

 English-speaking country. The list of these is somewhat remarkable 

 for one who accomplished so much in other fields. In 18G9 appeared 

 his German Grammar, in 1870 the corresponding German Reader, in 

 1877 his German-English Dictionary, in the same year his English 

 Grammar, and in 1886 his French Grammar, All these were worked 

 up with his usual thoroughness, and exhibit the latest results of lin- 

 guistic investigation. Had they taken his time from his special 

 studies, their preparation might have been a matter of regret. As it 

 was, it is nothing but a subject of congratulation. 



The preparation of the French Grammar occupied a portion of the 

 earlier months of 1886. It was then that Whitney felt at times a 

 pain in his arms, occasionally so severe that he would be under the 

 necessity of keeping them for a while folded. It was naturally at- 

 tributed to rheumatism. The summer of that year was spent in 

 Kittery, Maine, and while there these pains extended to the chest. 

 Still they occasioned no serious alarm, and the physician whom he 

 consulted did not venture to speak positively as to their cause. It was 

 not until his return to New Haven in the autumn that the increase 

 in the frequency and violence of these symptoms led him, at the 

 suggestion of his family physician, to seek the advice of a specialist. 

 In October he went to New York and consulted Dr. Loomis. That 

 practitioner, after a careful examination, felt compelled to warn him 

 that the situation was exceedingly grave ; that in fact the heart 

 was so seriously affected that the chances were heavily against his 

 living more than six weeks ; and that, if his life should be protracted 

 beycnd that period, it could be done only by the immediate cessation 

 of all work, and by steadily conforming to a most exacting regimen 



