Part 13

Lady Davy and the Doctor also quitted him, and George went to bed in his master's room, as he always had done since Sir Humphry's illness at Rome. At six o'clock this morning, Lady Davy's man-servant came to my room, and told me that Sir Humphry Davy was no more. I replied that it was impossible, and that he probably only lay in a torpor; but I went down to his room instantly, when I found that the servant's words were, alas! but too true. I asked George why he had not called me, when he said that he had sent up, but now found that it had been to a wrong room. He told me that Sir Humphry went to sleep after we had left him, but that he had twice waked, and that at half-past one, hearing him get out of bed, he went to him, when Sir Humphry said he did not want his assistance, and poured some solution of acetate of morphine into a wine glass of water; but this still remained untouched upon his table. George then helped him into bed, where he says he lay quite still till a little after two o'clock, when hearing him groan, he went to him, and found that he was senseless and expiring. He instantly called up Lady Davy and the Doctor, and sent up, as he believed, to me; but Sir Humphry, he says, never spoke again, and expired without a sigh.

I had so often, whilst at Rome, seen Sir Humphry lie for hours together in a state of torpor, and to all appearance dead, that it was difficult for me to persuade myself of the truth; but the delusion at length vanished, and it became too evident that all that remained before me of this great philosopher, was merely the cold and senseless frame with which he had worked. The animating spirit had fled to its oft self-imagined planetary world, there to join the rejoicing souls of the great and good of past ages, soaring from system to system, and with them still to do good in a higher and less bounded sphere, and I knew that it was freed from many a wearisome and painful toil: yet I could not look upon Sir Humphry as he was, without remembering that which he had been, and my tears would fall, spite of my effort to restrain them.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] A Calvary is a representation of the Crucifixion of our Saviour, consisting of one, and often of three large crosses, with accompanying figures and decorations.

[B] This word means in Krainerisch, a rotten or broken tooth, and is applied in this sense to the jagged summits of the mountain.

[C] I was afterwards led to believe that this pond or small lake is not the real source of the Wurzen-Save, as will be seen in the following pages.

[D] A variety of the genus Salmo that inhabits the Danube and its tributary streams. It sometimes reaches the enormous size of eighty pounds. See a complete description in "Salmonia," second edition.

[E] Proteus Anguinus, Siren Anguina, sometimes called the Austrian Siren. This rare little animal has as yet only been discovered in the subterraneous caverns of Carniola, at Adelsberg, and Sittich, and very lately in those of Heiligenstein, near Zirknitz; and is also mentioned in a German journal as having been found in Sicily. In shape it much resembles an eel, whence its specific name; but it has never yet been found of more than fifteen or sixteen inches in length, and about three-fourths of an inch in diameter. It is either of a pale rose-colour or perfectly white, but after having been for some time exposed to the light it becomes brown. Its skin is very smooth and even, the head somewhat depressed, and with a lengthened obtuse snout; the eyes are situated beneath the skin, and are exceedingly small; on each side of the neck are three ramified bronchial gills, of a bright blood-colour during the life of the animal. It is furnished with four legs or rather appendages, for they appear to be of no use to it, which are about three-fourths of an inch long, and the feet of the fore legs have three toes, whilst the hind feet have only two. Its motion when touched in the water is brisk and rapid, and is entirely produced by the action of the tail, unaided by the legs, as I observed was the case with one which I procured from a Professor at Laibach. It has very fine and sharp teeth, which it seems scarcely to need, having been kept for years together in fresh water apparently without any nourishment, but it has never been known to bring forth young, nor is its origin or real abode at all known. From the period of its discovery its nature has been a subject of discussion amongst naturalists, some imagining it to be the larva of a larger animal, whilst others maintain that it forms a new genus; nor is the question yet determined.

[F] Stalagmites are inverted stalactites, whose base is fixed to the ground, whilst the point is continually rising to a greater height by the gradual dripping of the water from the roof.

[G] Transactions of the Royal Society for 1829.

Transcriber's note:

Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.

Punctuation and type-setting errors have been corrected without note.

Variations in hyphenation and spelling have been retained as in the original publication.

Corrections:

page 37, Neu-Netting ==> Neu-Ötting pages 37, 39, Alt-Netting ==> Alt-Ötting pages 72, 74, 138, Kronan ==> Kronau [German name of the slovenian town Kranjska Gora] page 162, Kanonen-Saüle ==> Kanonen-Säule page 175, entrance this town ==> entrance to this town page 188, Civitta Castellana ==> Civita Castellana pages 215, 216, Montefiascove ==> Montefiascone page 219, basriefs ==> bas-reliefs page 226, we past the boundary ==> we passed the boundary