MEMOIR OF BARON HALLER. 55 



Bibliothecce. Being in possession of an immense 

 collection of the choicest books in various depart- 

 ments of science, which he could not continue to 

 use much longer, he wished to gratify himself by 

 going over them once more ; to render to these his 

 favourite sciences a last service, and to learned men 

 an additional favour, in pointing out to them those 

 sources of information to which he had so success- 

 fully resorted. These great volumes are chronolo- 

 gical catalogues of works of every age, country, and 

 language, relative to the subjects on which they 

 treat, with concise analyses and notices of peculiar 

 and important facts and opinions ; and accordingly, 

 they are very frequently consulted and quoted up 

 to the present day. These libraries of professional 

 knowledge, as they have been called, were published 

 in the following order: Bibliotheca Botanica (1771> 

 two vols. 4to) ; Bibliotheca Anatomica (1774, two 

 vols. 4to) ; Bibliotheca Chirurgica (1774, two vols. 

 4to) ; Bibliotheca Medicines Practices (1776-1788, 

 four vols. 4to, the last two volumes having appeared 

 posthumously). 



During Haller's declining years his health became 

 most painfully infirm; thus probably paying the 

 frequent and severe penalty of hard study and 

 literary labour and eminence. We have already 

 stated he was very delicate in infancy, and this 

 state continued throughout his youthful years. At 

 the age of twenty-one, however, he became stouter, 

 though liable to frequent and violent attacks of in- 

 disposition. When about sixty he became a martyr 



