37 



(jf intellectual labor. He was industrious durinjj; the day, and at nisrlit 

 it was his habit to be up until one or two o'clock in the mornini,', 

 actively engaged in study. His hour for breakfast was at nine. 

 About the seventh of March, 1865, he complained of being feverish, 

 and for a few days he bore his illness as an inconvenience, but not as 

 being serious. He reclined in his easy chairs in his study, and tried 

 to amuse himself with his books, now with one and now with another, 

 but none brought their usual relish. Occasionally he walked out a 

 little, saying he enjoyed the open air. In his study he took his sparing 

 meals, which were brought to him contrary to his usual practice. On 

 Sunday morning, the 12th, he had become so much worse that his bro- 

 ther insisted on his retiring to bed; and as a compromise he consented 

 to have a couch brought in his study. His fever rapidly increased, 

 and in the evening of that day he was affected with delirium. This 

 continued during Monday, but on Tuesday evening he recognized his 

 brother and addressed him by name. Later in the same night, appa- 

 rently at the crisis of the disease, he suffered a spasmodic convulsion, 

 partly rising up in his bed and showing signs of strong excitement. 

 As this passed away it became evident that he was in extreme danger. 

 His symptoms were now decidedly those of typhus fever. He rapidly 

 declined, and on Wednesday, the 15th, he breathed his last, still in his 

 study and surrounded by his books. He died in the midst of his labors; 

 and even now his old accustomed volumes seem to look down from 

 their shelves to the spot where he loved to sit and study, and where 

 he laj' when he reached his end. 



His remains were conveyed to the city residence of his brother Rath- 

 mell Wilson, Esq., in Philadelphia, where his funeral was attended on 

 Saturday the 18th. Besides his relatives the chief mourners were the 

 scientific gentlemen of that city. Sorrowfully they accompanied him 

 t<j the cemetery at South Laurel Hill. 



His Will had been made some considerable time past, and he therein 

 bequeathed the sum of $10,000 to the Academy of Natural Sciences. 

 He had expressed his intentions to alter this bequest in favor of the 

 Entomological Society, for the reason that he had already done so much 

 more for the Academy, and that the Academy was so much better pro- 

 vided for than the Society. But he died suddenly, sooner than the 

 anticipations of us all, and no change in his will was made. This ex- 

 planation in favor of the Entomological Society, seems demanded by 

 the occasion. In the right view of the case, however, all is well. This 

 Society had his kind intentions; Science has for its advancement the 



