He was also frequently called to the villages on the western bank of the Hudson, and on one occasion, while crossing during a cold winter night, his boat became fast in the floes of floating ice and drifted below Fort Washington ; he and his two companions narrowly escaping a watery grave. He was present when ground was broken for the Hudsjn River Railroad and was surgeon for the company of contractors, they paying him at the rate of twentyfive cents a month for each man on the work.

In 1850 he made the acquaintance of Dr. Edwin N. Bibby, a prominent physician of New York, and this acquaintance ripened into a deep friendship, which lasted till the death of Dr. Bibby, in 1882. He was for many years his family physician. Dr. Bibby having retired from practice and spent the last years of his life on the Van Cortlandt Manor. During the late war Dr. Varian was a strong friend of the Union and plainly outspoken in his sentiments. During the riots in 1863 his life was repeatedly threatened, and for a while he made his professional visits armed with a double-barreled gun and a revolver, which he would have unhesitatingly used had occasion required. In politics and religion he maintains independent and liberal views, and the evening of his life is passed in the enjoyment of friends and home. He had for many years been one of the police surgeons of New York and commands the respect of his professional brethren.