192 WOULD WORK TO THE LAST. 



feebler, the loss of co-ordinating power over the 

 mnscles of his lower limbs increased, as also the 

 difficulty experienced in walking, except when he 

 looked intently at his feet. The hyper-sensitive 

 condition of the skin, especially in his lower limbs, 

 was so great, that at times he could scarcely bear the 

 contact of his clothes. These deteriorating changes 

 were accompanied with loss of nutritive functions and 

 great emaciation. 



Contrary to the advice of his friends, the professor 

 commenced his usual winter course of lectures in 

 November 1866. Before the month expired he had a 

 fit, and fell in the presence of his class, and had to be 

 conveyed home. He resumed his work in a few days, 

 and, despite his sufferings and the daily entreaties of 

 those who saw him dying on his feet, he continued to 

 lecture till nearly Christmas. He had become little 

 more than a shadow of his former self, — his physi- 

 ognomy betrayed a wearying painful illness and 

 solicitude, as much as the fissured lines of his face 

 showed premature old age and rapid decadence. 

 Every act of his life was but a feeble effort against 

 the shackles that fettered his physique and limited his 

 mental operations. It was a terrible struggle — the 

 struggle of a strong will and earnest hopeful spirit to 

 accomplish public duty. During the few weeks that 

 intervened between the forced abandonment of his 

 class and his death he was mainly confined to bed. 

 " Born and reared in a religious atmosphere," as his 

 sister, who tenderly watched him in his last pilgrim- 



