50 MEMOIR OF DR. WALKER. 



with a long indisposition, from which she had not 

 recovered when he died; while he, for several 

 years, suffered under total blindness, superinduced 

 by that not uncommon yet most pernicious prac- 

 tice of preferring to study by candle-light, and 

 after the fatigues of the day, instead of enjoying 

 the beams of the morning and labouring after the 

 night's repose. " Yet," adds Lord Woodhouselee, 

 " though thus deprived of the principal source of 

 his enjoyments, and deeply suffering from domestic 

 misfortune, the blessings of a well-regulated mind, 

 an equal temper, a happy flow of animal spirits, 

 and a memory rich in knowledge and stored with 

 amusing anecdotes, not only rendered his conversa- 

 tion delightful to his friends, but supplied the means 

 and power of still occupying his time with his fa- 

 vourite literary and scientific pursuits." He died 

 on tlje 22d of January 1804, aged seventy-three. 



While he was laid aside, his place w r as ably sup- 

 plied by the present Professor Jameson, who has 

 raised the reputation of the chair to a height which 

 overshadows the well-earned reputation of his pre- 

 decessor ; but whose fame is secured by more lasting 

 memorials than the mere delivery of lectures could 

 confer. After his death, a volume of Tracts was 

 published, which, together with his " Travels in the 

 Hebrides," his " Heads of Lectures," and his essays 

 in the Royal Transactions, are all that remain to 

 keep alive his remembrance. 



