AmAi°ust^897rm'}     Memoir  of  Edson  Sewell  Bastin.  389 
of  instruction,  had  published  his  important  work,  "  Laboratory 
Exercises  in  Botany,"  containing  several  hundred  illustrations  from 
his  own  pen,  and  finally,  he  had  made  several  contributions  to  the 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy.  The  few  succeeding  years  were 
no  less  active  ones ;  during  1895  he  published  no  less  than  nine 
illustrated  papers  on  our  local  medicinal  plants  ;  one  of  these,  "Vera- 
trum  Viride,"  contained  a  plate  in  colors,  the  original  being  from  his 
brush.  His  research  work  during  1 896  was  devoted  to  the  structure 
of  the  "  North  American  Conifene."  This  series  of  papers  was  pub- 
lished in  joint  authorship  with  Henry  Trimble,  and  was  only  partly 
completed  at  the  time  of  Professor  Bastin's  death.  All  the  draw- 
ings were  from  his  pen.  He  was  also  engaged  in  preparing  an 
elaborate  work  on  materia  medica,  and  he  had  mounted  a  great 
many  sections  of  drugs  for  the  purpose  of  making  drawings  from 
them.  His  inability  to  make  rapid  progress  with  this  work  was  a 
great  trial  to  him,  and  he  persisted  in  it  at  intervals  until  March  18, 
1 897,  when,  after  mounting  two  sections,  he  laid  down  his  work  forever. 
Death  came  to  his  relief  on  April  6,  1897,  the  immediate  cause 
being  cerebral  hemorrhage.  He  had  not  been  well  since  the  pre- 
vious summer,  but  he  continued  to  attend  to  all  his  teaching  duties 
until  the  middle  of  December.  What  at  first  appeared  to  be  nervous 
prostration,  developed  into  exophthalmic  goiter.  His  tremendous 
will-power  kept  him  on  his  feet  almost  to  the  last,  and  as  late  as 
February  he  delivered  one  lecture,  but  it  was  like  the  last  flaring 
up  of  a  flickering  light. 
Professor  Bastin  was  a  member  of  several  scientific  societies,  viz.: 
The  Chicago  Academy  of  Science,  The  Evolution  Club,  the  Illinois 
Microscopical  Society,  The  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  and  the  Royal  Microscopical  Society  of  London. 
A  short  time  before  his  death  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society.  He  was  also  a  member  and 
trustee  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
In  studying  the  character  of  this  man  one  cannot  but  be  impressed 
with  the  wide  range  of  experience  he  covered  in  54  years,  yet  no 
one  can  say  that  he  was  not  a  master  in  every  station  in  which  he  was 
placed.  Whether  as  student,  soldier,  teacher,  author  or  artist,  he  was 
a  man,  and  a  thoroughly  honest  one.  His  strict  honesty  with  him- 
self caused  him  to  expect  honesty  in  everyone  else.  An  anecdote 
will  best  illustrate  how  binding  he  considered  his  own  promise. 
