C U R R I E. 



521 



Carrie, in the Doctor's mind a strong feeling of compassion ; 



"■ "V"""' and when his friend, Mr Syme of Ryedale, in conjunc- 

 tion with other persons of taste, urged him to become 

 editor of the works of this extraordinary man, he did 

 not feel himself at liberty to decline the call of bene- 

 volence. The task is universally allowed to have been 

 performed with great ability, and its success fully 

 equalled the most sanguine expectations. Repeated 

 editions produced a balance of profit, which formed a 

 little fortune for the widow and children of the de- 

 ceased ; and Dr Currie had the satisfaction of finding 

 himself one of the most powerful friends of departed 

 genius which the annals of British literature record. 



The severe illness which threatened Dr Currie's life 

 at the very commencement of his medical career, had 

 given a shock to his constitution from which he never 

 fully recovered, and in the early part of 1 804 his health 

 began visibly to decline. During the summer months 

 of that year he paid a visit to Scotland ; and, besides 

 the salubrity of his native air, he found, in the delight- 

 ful society of his early friends, a relaxation no less gra- 

 tifying to his mind than invigorating to his bodily 

 powers. The enjoyment of this last visit to the scene 

 of his youthful pleasures, could not fail to be greatly 

 enhanced by the opportunity it afforded him of witness- 

 ing the happy effect of his benevolent exertions on the 

 family of Burns ; and in speaking of this journey, he 

 always dwelt with peculiar satisfaction on a subject 

 which was so well calculated to interest the generous 

 heart. He returned to Liverpool apparently in a state 

 of rapid convalescence, but this flattering prospect was 

 not of long duration. On the re-appearance of alarm- 

 ing symptoms, he found it necessary, in the month of 

 November, finally to quit the climate and business of 

 Liverpool, where the loss of his society and of his pro- 

 fessional skill was deeply regretted. He spent the 

 winter alternately at Clifton and Bath; and in the 

 month of March, thought himself in such a state of re- 

 covery as justified his commencing the practice of his 

 profession in the latter town. The acquisition of a 

 man of such acknowledged eminence in the healing art, 

 was hailed by the inhabitants of Bath, and by the in- 

 valids who frequented that celebrated watering-place, 

 as a public benefit; and his career commenced in a 

 manner which promised the highest success. He still 

 continued sensible, however, of the precarious situation 

 of his health ; and in a letter which the author of this 

 memoir received from him, dated " Bath, 14th July 

 1805," he alludes to the subject in the following terms : 

 " I am still very delicate, I cannot well tell you how. 

 I am weak, and easily made breathless; but I am at 

 present rather better than usual. I am following my 

 profession here, and am likely enough to die in harness." 

 The scene was now soon to close All his complaints 

 returned with new violence, and, as a last resource, he 

 went in August to Sidmouth, where, after much suf- 



fering, which he bore with manly fortitude and pious Cumc. 

 resignation, he expired on the 31st of that month, in the '■"""V"*" 

 50th year of his age. His disease was ascertained to 

 be a great enlargement of the heart, accompanied with 

 remarkable wasting of the left lung, but without ul- 

 ceration, tubercle, or abscess. He left a widow and five 

 children, who inherit his virtues. His eldest son is 

 settled in Liverpool as a merchant, and his eldest daugh- 

 ter is married to an Irish gentleman. 



The following affectionate, but just and discrimina- 

 ting tribute to the memory of this eminent man, ap- 

 peared in a provincial paper, the production of an un- 

 known hand : " Scotland has produced few characters 7 

 whose names will descend to posterity with more splen- 

 did or more merited reputation. As a physician, he 

 possessed the entire confidence of his patient ; and his 

 industry, anxiety, and skill, were attended with won- 

 derful success. By his medical writings, he has thrown 

 great light on the healing art ; and particularly, by his 

 reports on the effects of water in fever, has contribu- 

 ted, more than any man of the age, to arrest the pro- 

 gress and promote the cure of the most frequent and 

 fatal diseases. As an author, independently of his pro- 

 fessional writings, the memoirs of his early friend Dr 

 Bell — the celebrated letter of Jasper Wilson to Mr 

 Pitt — and the Life of Burns, place him in the first 

 rank. No one that has felt interested in the prema- 

 ture fate of men of genius, can be indifferent to that 

 of him, who, with a kindred mind and an impartial 

 hand, has traced their sublime course, their wanderings, 

 and their errors : Who, with a true admiration of their 

 talents and their productions, has not omitted to point 

 out their failings as a warning to others, and to incul- 

 cate the necessity of that prudence and exertion, with- 

 out which ' wit becomes ridiculous, and genius con- 

 temptible.' To dignity of manners he united a social 

 and most sympathetic spirit ; and though somewhat 

 formal on a first introduction, no man with more rea- 

 diness engaged in the discussion of scientific or gene- 

 ral subjects, or with more grace and pleasure relaxed, 

 in easy conversation, into sportive and playful sallies 

 of wit. In the interesting relations of life, he was uni- 

 formly firm, tender, and affectionate. He was a steady 

 friend of liberty — a true and enlightened patriot, tha 

 regarded, with an interest amounting to a painful anxie- 

 ty, every thing in which his country was concerned, 

 and those great events which, of late years, have agi- 

 tated the political world. He aimed at and he pos- 

 sessed a high and honourable fame, which, as it was 

 the reward of his useful labours, his elegant writings, 

 and his great virtues, will live whilst excellence is ho- 

 nourable amongst men, and whilst the remembrance of 

 its sons and benefactors is cherished by a grateful coun- 

 try." (h. D.) 



CURTISIA, a genus of plants of the class Tetran- 

 dria, and order Monogynia. See Botany, p. 124. 



Curte 

 Lines. 



CURVE LINES AND SURFACES. 



1. 1 he theory of curve lines, is one of the most im- 

 portant additions which Descartes made to the science 

 of mathematics, by the application of algebra to geome- 

 try. Before his time, indeed, algebra had been applied 

 to the resolution of some particular geometrical pro- 

 blems ; but it was he that first thought of expressing the 

 nature of curve lines by algebraic equations, and thereby 

 laid the foundation of some of the greatest improvements 

 *hat have been made in both branches of the science. 



VOL. VII. PART II. 



2. A curve line may be defined to be, that of which 

 no part is a straight line. The circumference of a cir- 

 cle, and the conic sections, are particular instances of 

 such lines ; but there may be an endless variety. 



3. A curve surface is that of which no part is a plane. 

 The surfaces of a cone, a sphere, and a cylinder, are of 

 this nature. 



4. If a curve he entirely in one plane, it is called a 

 plane curve ; such is the circumference of a circle. Bat 



3d 



Curve 

 Lines. 



