as steel in the theatre of operation was soft as thistle-down to the throbbing pulse and aching brow. It may also be added, with perfect truth, that in the exercise of his arduous duties, among persons of the highest rank and most fastidious sympathies, his delicacy and forbearance were as remarkable as the sound sense which regulated all his professional conduct. His heart was in his business.” Liston was warm in his friendships though strong in his dislikes. He did not readily take to strangers. It is to be noted that he became frankly reconciled to Syme after their serious divergence. He took the initiative finally in 1839, and a genial correspondence took place between them. They met once more in the autumn of 1847, when Liston visited Edinburgh, and were often together. Liston dined with Syme at Millbank the day after his arrival in Edinburgh, and again the day before he left for London. Before very long, however, Liston was carried off by aneurism of the aorta, which must have existed for years, and been fostered by his great physical exertions, which characterised his recreation as well as his work. It had been found impossible to diagnose his ailment with certainty till some little time before his death, which came with startling suddenness upon the medical world and the public generally. He died on December 7, 1847, aged 53, and was buried at Highgate Cemetery. A body of 400 students and a large number of medical men attended his funeral. He left a widow and a family of six children, two of whom were sons. One of these, however, died very soon after his father. In the following May Lord Brougham delivered a glowing eulogy on Liston at the distribution of prizes at University College. A sum of about £700 was subscribed for a memorial, which took the form of a marble statue—placed in the College—and a gold medal called the Liston Medal, which is awarded annually for surgery at the same institution. * * * * * JAMES SYME, another of the great Scotch surgeons of this century, was born in Edinburgh on the 7th November 1799. His father, a Writer to the Signet, was of good family, but owing to unsuccessful speculations was involved in difficulties, and left nothing behind him. Young Syme was educated at the High School of Edinburgh, and soon showed characteristic patience and perseverance without brilliant parts. A certain thickness of speech, almost amounting to an impediment, strengthened the impression of shyness that he gave. Instead of country sports, he was fond of botanising, and of making skeletons of small animals. A similar tendency manifested itself in his attachment to chemistry and his fondness for making chemical experiments. Thus he was equipped with a sufficient bent towards studies connected with medicine to render it not surprising when he adopted the medical profession.