50 
MEMOIR OP DR. WALKER. 
with a long indisposition, from which she had not 
recovered when he died ; while he, for several 
years, suffered under total blindness, superinduced 
by that not uncommon yet most pernicious prac- 
tice of preferring to study by candle-light, and 
after the fatigues of the day, instead of enjoying 
the beams of the morning and labouring after the 
night’s repose. “ Yet,” adds Lord Woodhouselee, 
“ though thus deprived of the principal source of 
his enjoyments, and deeply suffering from domestic 
misfortune, the blessings of a well-regulated mind, 
an equal temper, a happy flow of animal spirits, 
and a memory rich in knowledge and stored with 
amusing anecdotes, not only rendered his conversa- 
tion delightful to his friends, but supplied the means 
and power of still occupying his time with his fa- 
vourite literary and scientific pursuits." lie died 
on the 2^d of January 1804, aged seventy-three. 
While he was laid aside, his place was ably sup- 
plied by the present Professor Jameson, who has 
raised the reputation of the chair to a height which 
overshadows the well-earned reputation of his pre- 
decessor ; but whose fame is secured by more lasting 
memorials than the mere delivery of lectures could 
confer. After his death, a volume of Tracts was 
published, which, together with his “ Travels in the 
Hebrides,” his “ Heads of Lectures,” .and his essays 
in the Royal Transactions, are all that remain to 
keep alive his remembrance. 
