reached San Francisco of a dreadful railway accident on the Isthmus of Panama-was one of manifold horrors to the citizens.

Among the numerous tributes offered to the memory of James King of Wm. were the following verses, written by W. H. Rhodes, Esq., (better known by the nom de plume, "Caxton,") which were appropriately set to music by Prof. Rodolph Herold.

"He Fell at His Post Doing Duty."

The patriot sleeps in the land of his choice,
In the robe of a martyr, all gory,

And heeds not the tones of the world-waking voice,
That cover his ashes with glory.

What recks he of riches? what cares he for fame,

Or a world decked in grandeur or beauty?

If the marble shall speak that records his proud name,
"He died at his post, doing duty!”

The pilot that stood at the helm of our bark,

Unmoved by the tempest's commotion,

Was swept from the deck in the storm and the dark,
And sank in the depths of the ocean.

But little he'll grieve for the life it has cost,
If our banner shall still float in beauty,
And emblaze on its folds, of the pilot we lost,
"He died at his post doing duty!"

The warrior-chieftain has sunk to his rest-
The sod of Lone Mountain his pillow;
For his bed, California has opened her breast;
His dirge, the Pacific's sad billow!

As long as the ocean-wave weeps on our shore,
And our valleys bloom out in their beauty,
So long will our country her hero deplore,
Who fell at his post doing duty!

JOSEPH C. TUCKER.

EY WILLIAM Y. WELLS.

Tis impossible to look back upon the history of Califorthe influence of the learned callings in the development of the State; and this has been particularly the case as regards members of the medical fraternity. Not only in an intense application to the details of the profession has this been seen, but men of classical education have been a potent element in the progress of communities—in their political, scientific and general advancement. This is owing, not more to the energy essential to the successful physician, than to the direction which the eventful circumstances of the early days gave to character, which, among less exciting surroundings, might not have produced the impatient, practical activity distinguishing men of scholarly attainments in this new field of adventure. Numbers of valuable institutions on the Pacific coast have originated in the sagacious counsels and well-directed efforts of physicians. A principal among these promoters has been the present surgeon of the U. S. Marine Hospital at San Francisco, Dr. J. C. Tucker, who, perhaps, more than most other men, has given an impulse to sanitary legislation in California, while, at the same time, his influence has been felt in a wide variety of useful public enterprises.

Dr. Tucker was born in 1828, in New York city, where the family name ranks among the oldest in the State. His grandfather, father, and only brother, the Hon.