CHILDHOOD AND YOUTH 27 



thought he should be studying a profession, was a waste 

 of time most reprehensible in a boy who was dependent 

 on his mother's small means. His grandmother, however, 

 upheld and encouraged him, and he always felt that he 

 owed a great deal of his success in life to her. As a matter 

 of fact, I think that he had an independent income from 

 natural history at as early an age as any of his brothers 

 from their professions; and he did not, as was prophesied, 

 remain a burden on the family finances, so his grand- 

 mother's wisdom was justified. 



"My great-grandmother was a great resource to all 

 her grandsons, especially to those of an industrious turn 

 of mind, in regard to pocket money. While she was most 

 liberal, she believed in inculcating habits of independent 

 industry, and was therefore very much in the habit, so 

 far as possible, of letting the boys earn such pocket 

 money as she thought it wise for them to have. My 

 father's need for powder and shot usually led to the manu- 

 facture of small articles such as silk winders, etc., whittled 

 out of wood or bone, which his grandmother, and some- 

 times his aunts, would purchase. My great-grandmother 

 was in the habit of laying in a supply of coarse canvas 

 which she would have tacked down to the floor of her 

 garret as a foundation for home-made oil cloth; innumer- 

 able coats of lead-colored paint being laid on by the boys 

 of the family from time to time when they were in need 

 of funds. There was a fixed tariff per square yard for 

 painting, and the grandson applying for remunerative 

 work would be sent upstairs to lay on paint sufficient 

 to bring him in the desired revenue. When enough coats 

 had been put on, to make a good oil-cloth, the strip 

 would be brought down stairs for use in some portion of 

 the kitchen department of the house, or would perhaps be 



