him with reference to its publication.  One morning, as I rang, the professor came to the door with a hurried and nervous step.  As it opened, I noted that his tall form was peculiarly agitated, and his countenance was deadly pale.  In a calm, subdued voice, he informed me that Hugh Miller had just committed suicide with a pistol.  The terrible news overcame me with a shudder, and I almost sank to the floor.  The fact was not yet generally known; and oh, when it should be made public, what a blow would be felt by the moral and scientific world!  The professor knew that the affair might possibly be ascribed by some to accident, but he at once referred it to insanity.  The over-worked brain of the geologist had been for some time threatened with a collapse.  He had, in addition to the management of the Witness, been elaborating a work of deep and exhausting character, and the mental excitement which accompanied its completion was like devouring fire.  I have frequently gone to his room at a late hour of the night, and found him sitting before the smouldering grate, so absorbed in thought that, as he balanced the probabilities of contending theories, he unwittingly accompanied the mental effort by balancing the poker on the bar.  I have seen, on such an occasion, a greasy stream oozing from the pocket of his fustian coat, and supplied by the roll of butter which at morning market he had purchased for home use.  On the table lay his MSS., so marred with interlinings and corrections, that, notwithstanding his neat and delicate hand, it was almost a complete blot.  These habits could not but terminate in utter wreck, and I have ever coincided with the professor’s opinion as to the cause of his death.  This gentleman stated to me a fact not generally known, that a few days before the awful catastrophe, the unfortunate man called on him in great distress, and sought his advice.  He complained of a pain in his head, and then added an expression of fears with regard to that which was to him of untold value.  This was his mineral and geological collection in Shrub Place, which was, no doubt, the most valuable private one in the kingdom.  He was haunted by apprehension of its robbery by a gang of thieves, and asked what measures of safety would be advisable.  The professor endeavored to expel the absurd idea by playful remark, and supposed himself somewhat successful.  The next thing he heard was the intelligence of his death.  It is quite evident that the fatal revolver was purchased for the defense of his treasures.  What a lesson is this of the danger of excessive application, of unreasonable toil, of late hours, and mental tension.  A continued exhaustion of his energies had brought upon the geologist a state of mental horror from which death seemed the only relief.  The reaction of the nervous system was, no doubt, similar to that arising from delirium tremens; and thus extremes met, and the savant perished like the inebriate.

The tragedy did not seem complete until another victim should be added.  The professor took the revolver to Thompson’s, on Leith Walk, in order to learn by examination how many shots had been fired by the unfortunate suicide.  The gunsmith took the weapon, but handled it so carelessly, that it went off in his hands, and the ball caused his death.