cHap.1x.] Zhe Collection Destroyed. 169 
daily. Accordingly, he accepted the offer of twenty pounds 
and ten shillings for the whole of his collection ! 
It was a bitter pang to part with it; but the thing must 
be done. Howling was of no use. Edward was even glad 
to get that paltry sum, in order to be at last set free. The 
gentleman (Mr. Grant) who bought the collection wished it 
for his boy, who had a taste for natural history. The 
specimens were removed to his house at Ferryhill. They 
were afterward packed up and sent to his place in St. 
Nicholas Street, where they were stored up in some damp 
THE SHORE AT ABERDEEN. 
and unsuitable room; and, being otherwise neglected, it is 
believed that the whole collection eventually went to ruin. 
Perhaps Edward might have got more money for his 
collection if he had broken it up and offered it in lots. 
Professor Dickie was willing to buy a number of his speci- 
mens, and to pay a good price for them; but this would 
have involved a considerable loss of time, and also a con- 
siderable increase of expense. He was therefore under the 
necessity of disposing of the whole at once. 
“Whatever,” says Edward, “may have been the real 
cause of my ruin and want of success, I must say that, al- 
though I was not supported and encouraged, I had no real 
8 
