Page:A biographical dictionary of eminent Scotsmen, vol 9.djvu/119

Rh In 1829 he published the "Encyclopædia of Plants," which was less his own work than any of its predecessors, as he claimed nothing of it beyond the plan and general design. During the two years that followed, he was chiefly employed in producing new editions of his Encyclopædias of Agriculture and Gardening, and of these, the first was almost wholly re-written, and the latter entirely so. But these occupations, although so laborious, were not his sole nor even his chief task at the time, for he was also closely engaged with the "Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture,"—so closely, indeed, that himself and Mrs. Loudon used to sit up the greater part of every night employed upon it, never having more than four hours' sleep, and drinking strong coffee to keep themselves awake. It would have been hard, indeed, had such labour been in vain; and therefore it is gratifying to add, that this was not only one of the most useful, but also most successful of all his works, and is still a standard authority upon the subject. His next, and also his greatest work, which would of itself have been sufficient for any ordinary lifetime, was his "Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum," in which he gave an account, with pictorial illustrations, of all the trees, wild or cultivated, that grow in Great Britain. This production, which was published in 1838, at his own risk, was so unsuccessful, that after paying artists and other persons engaged in it, he found himself in debt to the amount of £10,000 to the printer, stationer, and wood-engraver, while the sale of such a splendid publication was so slow, that there was no prospect that it would ever pay its own expenses.

Up to this period Loudon had been one of the most prolific of authors, while all that he had written, he had written well. Nothing, indeed, could exceed his indomitable resolution, unless it might be the philanthropic spirit by which it was animated. Independently of the subjects which we have enumerated, he wrote several minor productions, supplemented his own works from time to time, and was a contributor to Brande's "Dictionary of Science." Even, also, while the pressure of these numerous avocations was at the greatest, he was discharging the office of editor to four separate periodicals, all of them established by himself, and which he superintended at one and the same time. All this suggests the idea of a frame of iron, and a constitution impervious to human weaknesses and wants, as well as the most unflinching energy of purpose. But our wonder is heightened when we find that, during the greater part of these labours, poor Loudon was an invalid and a cripple. The rheumatic fever with which he was attacked in 1806, ended in an anchylosed knee, and a contracted left arm. Thus he continued till 1820, when, while employed in compiling the "Encyclopædia of Gardening," he had another severe attack of rheumatism, that compelled him to have recourse in the following year to Mohammed's Baths, at Brighton. Here he submitted to the rough process of shampooing; but this remedy, so available in many cases like his own, was too much for his feeble bones: his arm broke so close to the shoulder, that it could, not be set in the usual manner; and in a subsequent trial, it was again broken, and this time so effectually, that in 1826 amputation was found necessary. But a general breaking up of the system had also been going on, by which the thumb and two fingers of the left hand had been rendered useless, so that he could only use the third and little finger. Yet though thus so maimed and mutilated, as apparently to be unfit for anything but the sick-chamber or a death-bed, the whole energy of life seemed to rally round his heart, and be as ready for fresh encounters as ever, so that his work went on unchecked and