and silver, and the responsibility of managing so large amounts, for which he was accountable in law to the full value, weighed heavily and constantly on his mind, and told severely upon his physical constitution, and, according to Mr Dubois, in his later years a painful anxiety "seemed to be ineradicably seared into his very life." His noticeable failure is traced by Mr. Dubois from the great "wastages" of 1872, together with subsequent difficulties in the recoinage of seventeen millions of our gold coin in 1873. Prof. Booth himself wrote upon this subject in a private letter in October, 1887: "The whole truth is that the constantly increasing business of the Mint beyond its own capacity for bullion storage has been increasingly weighing down my anxious thoughts for its safety, and you may add to that the consciousness that I was personally responsible for every ounce of bullion received, and then you will readily perceive sufficient ground for a constant anxious care, which I sometimes imagined to be as the square or cube of the extra quantity of bullion constantly poured in.… It was that constant and constantly augmenting ounce-for-ounce responsibility that finally affected my mind, and I rather think broke me down. I went home quite sick from the Mint early in April, and lay on my back for about three months. I suppose that such a statement will be quite sufficient to explain my present position. I am glad to say that I had sufficient strength to resign from my place in the Mint" (he resigned in August, 1887, after thirty-nine years of service), "although no one is yet appointed to take my place. However, I do not go more than once a week to the Mint, and shall be glad when the string of union is severed.… From my age, over seventy-seven, I hardly expect restoration of full strength, and am satisfied with what Providence designs." His successor was not appointed when he died.
Prof. Booth had a variety of side-pursuits, and was especially fond of linguistic studies, among which he took a particular interest in phonetics, short-hand writing, and the reform of English orthography. He regarded phonography as important in elementary education, and thought it should be required as an essential branch. Having mastered Pitman's Phonography, he perceived the defective character of the text-books on the subject, and himself published an elementary work upon it in 1849—the Phonographic Instructor. The Instructor was republished, with a key, in 1850 and in 1856. The book was a successful one.
Most of Prof, Booth's writings bore upon the special field of his studies and his work. Having become a member of the American Philosophical Society in 1839, he, in connection with Prof. Martin H. Boyé, communicated to the eighth volume of its transactions, new series, a paper on the Conversion of Benzoic Acid into Hippuric Acid. A considerable number of the reports of
