sweet cake. His reason for allowing himself this indulgence so 

 seldom was, that the wine had the effect of raising his pulse to 150, 

 its natural standard being 70. 



On account of this difficulty of swallowing, Mr. Kirwan, even 

 when he dined out of his own house, never ate in the presence of 

 any one. Lord Cloncurry informs me, that his practice at Ly- 

 ons, when visiting there, was to retire to a particular room in the 

 house, and there he had his dinner served ; on which occasion he 

 dispensed with the ham, and contrived to get down minces: as soon 

 as the family had dined he immediately joined them. I have 

 learned from other sources, that he either dined in this manner 

 with his friends, or avoided arriving until immediately after the re- 

 moval of the first course, he having previously had his dinner at 

 home. Mr. Kirwan was very intimate with Lord Cloncurry, and used 

 to spend much time at his house along with Mr. Chenevix, who re- 

 sided in the neighbourhood. The two chemists were of very oppo- 

 site politics, Mr. Kirwan leaning to Lord Cloncurry's opinions, yet 

 the three friends lived in perfect harmony. 



A curious feature in Mr. Kirwan's character was the gravity of 

 countenance which he maintained on occasions that drew forth 

 laughter from every other person, although he would laugh conti- 

 niously and in paroxysms at things that little affected any one else. 

 The following anecdote illustrates the former peculiarity. One 

 evening he was at tea, with his daughters, when his physician, the 

 late Dr. Egan, came in and sat down. The Doctor having risen 

 from his seat to leave his cup on the table, in returning without 

 looking behind, missed his chair, and fell flat down on his back, 

 with his heels up. Mr. Kirwan, who was in the middle of a long 

 speech, did not perceive the cause, but, hearing a noise, turned 

 round, and seeing the Doctor with his heels in the air, inquired 

 gravely, •' Doctor Egan, what are you doing there ?" This ques- 

 tion, asked in so solemn and calm a manner, perfectly convulsed 

 his daughters, already biting their lips to suppress their mirth. 

 Mr. Kirwan, instead of being moved by any contagious influence, 

 became extremely angry, threatened to send them both out of the 

 room, and solemnly assured them that in their dying moments they 

 would repent of this, Politeness might forbid the expression of 



