202 NO HEED FOR THE MORROW. 



There was no moderation in Goodsir's working, 

 and not even the relaxation which change of pursuit 

 favours to a certain extent. It was daily, dogged, 

 downright labour ; he used his body as if it were a 

 machine, and his brain as if nervous matter could be 

 supplied as readily as English coal to a furnace. He 

 exhibited in his own person what is aptly designated 

 the wear and tear of life, with every nerve in full tension 

 as if for concert pitch. Scores of friends advised him, 

 personally and by letter, to spare his energies ; but 

 Goodsir, prepared to " shun delights and live laborious 

 days," took no heed of the morrow of life ; now and 

 onwards and for ever reflected his belief. He seemed 

 buoyed up with a passionate fervour that would brook 

 no delay and no temporising with its aim and purpose. 

 Incessant work, continued for a series of years, led to 

 the usual result — impaired health, functional disturb- 

 ance, and pathological change. To escape from the 

 dissecting-rooms to the quiet of country life, and " to 

 babble of green fields" is the great desideratum of 

 every anatomist, and no men enjoy their holidays more 

 thoroughly; but Goodsir scarcely ever realised what 

 relaxation was. When he spent a summer abroad, it 

 was not by the banks of Lago Maggiore, or sipping 

 the waters of Brunnen, but in the museums of Berlin 

 and Vienna. On his return from a Continental trip, 

 when asked by a friend how he enjoyed his autumnal 

 holidays, Goodsir, with great truth and simple-mind- 

 edness, replied — " Oh ! very much indeed. I spent 

 six hours a-day in the museums with Midler, Hyrtl, 

 or Kolliker." Change and travel soon palled on the 



