135 
of Edinburgh^ Session 1863 - 64 . 
In 1840 arrangements were made for Dr Eeid settling in Londonj 
and, while taking charge of ventilating the temporary House of 
Commons, superintending also the ventilation of the new build- 
ing then in progress. This brought Dr Keid necessarily into close 
contact with the architect of the new palace, Mr Barry, and unfor- 
tunately they did not agree. The difference got worse and worse, 
till in 1845 they were no longer on speaking terms, and every de- 
tail of such extensive operations had to be settled by correspond- 
ence, — a state of things which could not be allowed to last. The 
quarrel broke out in some strong expressions of Dr Eeid, — a prose- 
cution for libel by Mr Barry, — a pretty general attack on Dr Eeid 
by the public press, and a Eeply by him to ‘‘ The Times” news- 
paper [1845-47]. 
In 1852 a negotiation was entered into, by which the Grovern- 
ment proposed to secure Dr Eeid’s services permanently, and to 
throw the ventilation of the whole buildings of the Houses under 
his charge, — one part of which, the House of Lords, had hitherto 
been managed by Mr Barry on a different system, — but these 
negotiations were abruptly broken off.” In fact. Dr Eeid was 
turned off, after sixteen years successful service, and, as his brother 
tells us, “ a small sum was given to him as some compensation for 
the loss which he had sustained. His friends who knew his whole 
career, and the proceedings connected with his removal to London, 
to take the charge of ventilating the Houses of Parliament, were of 
opinion that the sum awarded was totally inadequate to compensate 
for the sacrifices he had made.” 
Dr Eeid went to New York in 1855. He delivered lectures in 
the Smithsonian Institution there, and at Boston. In the begin- 
ning of this year (1863), he received the appointment of Inspector 
of Military Hospitals, but soon after, while engaged in an official 
journey, he died suddenly at Washington, on 5th April 1863. 
Dr Eeid’s system of ventilating great buildings, where crowds 
habitually assembled, consisted in forcing in a current of air by 
means of a powerful engine — the air being previously washed to 
free it from dust and to give it the requisite moisture. Some of 
his experiences are curious. 
“ The house is heated to 62° before it is opened, and maintained 
in general at a temperature between 63° and 70°, according to the 
