WILLIAM CUMING, M.D. 55 



among his miscellaneous papers. Tt seems at first sight to 

 commemorate the Emperor Claudius, and presents the usual 

 abbreviations of Consul, Imperator, and Senatus Consultu, but, 

 when the letters are properly divided, turns out to be no more 

 than an epitaph on one Claud Coster and his wife Jane. 

 Antiquity had a predominant charm for Cuming, but he was 

 not careless of the new and wider conceptions of the world 

 which arose through the explorations of Captain Cook. The 

 ships employed in the great navigator's last vo3'age returned 

 about four months prior to February 17th, 17S1, when Cuming, 

 writing to Gough, observes : " Whatever you hear relating to the 

 Discoveries in Geography and Natural History made by the 

 Resolution and her partner (the Discovery), will prove accept- 

 able Intelligence." He bequeathed to his niece his copy of 

 " Cook's Voyage to the Northern Hemisphere " (containing the 

 record of this exploration) and its additional volume of fine 

 plates. 



As Cuming's uneventful career has left no more to record, I 

 must pass to the closing scenes of his earthly life. In March, 

 1783, his health was failing. For the last six months (he tells 

 Lettsom) he has been abed at nine in the morning. About 

 four months later he seldom went beyond his garden, where he 

 walked ^'sedately " (as he phrases it) for a quarter of an hour at 

 a time; and by December, 17S4, his outdoor exercise was 

 confined to that limit. 1784 brought with it the death of 

 another old friend — James Frampton, of IMoreton. Cuming's 

 last extant letters to Lettsom and Gough are dated respectively 

 on September 4th and November 28th, 1787 ; and on the 

 following 5th of December he executed a codicil to his will in 

 order to augment the legacies of his faithful servants. This was 

 his latest recorded action. " Serenely placed in the Hour of 

 Death " (as a friend who perhaps stood by reports). Dr. Cuming 

 passed away during the afternoon of iMarch 25th, 17S8, in the 

 74th year of his age. 



