mental attacks, weakness of limbs, lassitude, and
failure of sleep. He occupied himself as usual with his books, papers,
and accounts; and read Travels, Biblical History, &c., but nothing
very persistently.

On June 7th he attended the Visitation of the Royal Observatory.--From
a letter addressed to him by Mr J. Hartnup, of Liverpool Observatory,
it appears that there had grown up in the mercantile world an
impression that very accurate chronometers were not needed for steam
ships, because they were rarely running many days out of sight of
land: and Airy's opinion was requested on this matter. He replied as
follows on Mar. 3rd: "The question proposed in your letter is purely a
practical one. (1) If a ship is _likely_ ever to be two days out of
sight of land, I think that she ought to be furnished with two _good_
chronometers, properly tested. (2) For the proper testing of the rates
of the chronometers, a rating of the chronometers for three or four
days in a meridional observatory is necessary. A longer testing is
desirable."--In March he was in correspondence, as one of the Trustees
of the Sheepshanks Fund, with the Master of Trinity relative to grants
from the Fund for Cambridge Observatory.

1891

From June 16th to July 15th he was at Playford. And again from
Oct. 12th to Dec. 2nd (his last visit). Throughout the year his
weakness, both of brain power and muscular power, had been gradually
increasing, and during this stay at Playford, on Nov. 11th, he fell
down in his bed-room (probably from failure of nerve action) and was
much prostrated by the shock. For several days he remained in a
semi-unconscious condition, and although he rallied, yet he continued
very weak, and it was not until Dec. 2nd that he could be removed to
the White House. Up to the time of his fall he had been able to take
frequent drives and even short walks in the neighbourhood that he was
so fond of, but he could take but little exercise afterwards, and on
or about Nov. 18th he made the following note: "The saddest expedition
that I have ever made. We have not left home for several days."

The rapid failure of his powers during this year is well exemplified
by his handwriting in his Journal entries, which, with occasional
rallies, becomes broken and in places almost illegible. He makes
frequent reference to his decline in strength and brain-power, and to
his failing memory, but he continued his ordinary occ