329 
of Edinburgh, Session 1881-82. 
foretold as then to happen had actually taken place, the task 
was generally recognised to be one of hopeless difficulty. Even 
should it be thought, however, that he was not very successful 
in his apocalyptic researches, the members of the Koyal 
Society cannot need to he reminded that in the same department 
of investigation Sir Isaac Newton himself somewhat signally failed. 
Dr. Cumming’s publications were very numerous, and several of 
them passed through many editions and were very widely read. 
They may be distributed into three classes: — (1) Works of practi- 
cal religious edification — such as those entitled Daily Life , Voices 
of the Night, Sabbath Morning Readings , &c. ; (2) Controversial 
Works — of which the Hammersmith Discussion and the Popular 
Lectures on Essays and Reviews may be mentioned as examples ; and 
(3) Works on Prophecy — such as the Apocalyptic Sketches of 
1847, 48, and 49, and The Great Tribulation, Redemption draweth 
Nigh, and Seventh Vial , of a later period. 
Dr. Gumming found relaxation and pleasure in tending bees, 
and was the author of the letters on apiculture, signed “ Bee- 
master,” which appeared in the Times. 
Upwards of two years before his death, his powers of mind and 
body began perceptibly to fail, and even before there were any signs 
of waning vigour, fashion and popularity had gone to flatter others ; 
but the announcement of his decease must have carried sadness to 
many, as they remembered the conspicuousness of the position 
which he had long held, the abundance of his labours and the 
multitude of his works, the charm of his speech and the popularity 
of his writings, his bold and tenacious advocacy of his convictions, 
and his amiable and estimable personal qualities. 
Dr. P. D. Handyside. By Dr. J. H. Balfour, E.B.S. 
Peter David Handyside was born on 26th October 1808. He 
was the son of William Handyside, Writer to the Signet in 
Edinburgh. He died on 21st February 1881, at 16 Lansdowne 
Crescent, Edinburgh, after a lengthened illness. 
He was educated in Edinburgh, and took his degree in medicine 
in the University of Edinburgh in 1831. He was a distinguished 
student, as is evinced by the fact that he was elected Senior Presi- 
