Royal Society of Edinhurgh. 



301 



burgh in 1804, and he became a Fellow of the ( /oUege of Surgeons 

 in 1810. He was physician to the Deaf and Dumb Institution for 

 many j^ears. From the extreme shyness of liis disposition, his 

 wortli and ability w^ere known only to a limited circle of intimate 

 friends. He died 12th May 18G3. His widow and two sons sur- 

 vive—William Alexander, M.A. Oxon., and Charles Maitland. 



David Boswell Keid was the second son of Dr Peter Eeid, phy- 

 sician in Edinburgh. His mother, Christian Arnot, was the eldest 

 daughter of Hugo Arnot of Balcormo, advocate and antiquary, 

 well known to the last generation by his book on the history of 

 Edinburgh and his collection of Scotch criminal trials — and per- 

 haps still better by the extraordinary attenuated, almost skeleton, 

 figure of the old gentleman preserved to us in Kay's Portraits. 

 Dr Peter Eeid (whose mother was a Boswell of the Balmuto family) 

 was the editor of Dr Cullen's First Lines of the Practice of 

 Physic," 1802. A new edition was published, with supplemen- 

 tary notes, in 1810. He was also the author of a little duodecimo 

 volume, entitled "Letters on the Study of Medicine and on the Medi- 

 cal Character, addressed to a Student," Edin., 1809. Besides the 

 subject of my present notice, Dr Peter Keid had two sons, — Dr 

 William, a lecturer in Edinburgh on the practice of Medicine, and 

 Dr Hugo, well known as the author of several popular works, the 

 last of which is a modest and temperate memoir of his distin- 

 guished brother, to which I beg to acknowledge my obligation. 



David Boswell Keid was educated at the High School and Uni- 

 versity of Edinburgh. At the former, Mr Pillans, the rector, has 

 mentioned him as " among the head boys of the Kector's class." 

 While a medical student he became a member of the Koyal Medi- 

 cal Society, of which he was chosen senior president in 1826-27, his 

 junior being James Kay, now Sir James Kay Shuttle worth. 



In 1827, Mr David Keid commenced a course of practical che- 

 mistry, which was very useful and very popular. He aimed at 

 enabling each student to familiarise himself, by experiments made 

 under the directions of a teacher, with the properties of the chief 

 chemical substances, and the phenomena attending their action on 

 each other. 



After much approval in his extra-mural lecture-room, he joined 

 Dr Hope in the College, and was again quite successful in the object 

 of his course. But the Professor and Assistant had some misunder- 

 standings, which led Mr Keid to leave the College, and renew his 

 independent lectures, which were highly appreciated — attended 

 by all classes, — the young ambitious student, — the veteran philoso- 

 pher and man of science, — the man of intelligence feeling the 

 want of science. On his benches met Dr Chalmers and Sir John 

 Leslie, Professors George Joseph Bell and Pillans, Dean Kamsay 

 and Mr Combe. 



After the burning of the Houses of Parliament, and in contem- 

 plation of a new building, when a committee of the Commons was 

 inquiring on the subject of its ventilation and acoustics, Dr Keid 



NEW SERIES VOL. XTX. NO. 11. APRIL 1864. 2 Q 



