80 Biographical Account of the late John Dalton. 



then undertook the same school as a principal, and continued it for eight 

 years. During some part of this long period, I have been told that he 

 was somehow connected with the celebrated John Gough of Kendal, who, 

 in spite of his blindness, was no mean mathematician, and was even 

 acquainted with some branches of science that it would seem at first 

 impossible to cultivate without the advantage of sight. Thus he was a 

 chemist and a botanist ; and he assured me (for I had the pleasure of 

 being acquainted with him) that he could discover the colour of flowers 

 by the sense of touch. 



While at Kendal, Mr. Dalton employed his leisure hours in studying 

 Latin, Greek, French, and the Mathematics, together with the most inter- 

 esting branches of Natural Philosophy. 



He removed to Manchester in 1793, where he was employed as a tutor 

 in mathematics and natural philosophy in the New College — a scientific 

 establishment lately constituted in that great manufacturing capital. After 

 continuing six years in that employment, he gave it up, and commenced 

 a private teacher in mathematics ; an employment in which he took great 

 delight, and which he continued till his health began to break, about 

 seven years before his death. 



It was in Manchester that he first turned his attention to chemistry, 

 and about the year 1802 or 1803 he delivered a short course of lectures 

 on that science in Edinburgh, in which he explained his peculiar views. 

 These lectures were also delivered in Glasgow. A year or two after, he 

 delivered a short course of lectures in the Royal Institution, London. These 

 lectures were afterwards repeated in Birmingham and in Leeds. 



Mr. Dalton was a member of the Society of Friends, and was in habits 

 of intimacy with the most respectable members of that body in Manchester. 

 He never kept house, but lived in lodgings, chiefly in the house of a 

 respectable Unitarian clergyman. His income as a teacher must have 

 been small ; but his mode of living was economical. He enjoyed a pension 

 of £300 a year from government during the last twelve or fifteen years of his 

 life. He is said also to have had a small estate in Cumberland, doubtless 

 an inheritance. He is said to have left behind him about £10,000. 



About eight years ago he had a paralytic shock, from which he partially 

 recovered ; but his speech was so much impeded, that he could with diffi- 

 culty be understood. His faculties continued unimpaired, and he still 

 prosecuted his meteorological observations, of which he was very fond, and 

 occasionally made chemical experiments. But about the beginning of 

 1843 he had another shock, which completely put a stop to all study of 

 every kind. He died on the 27th of July, 1844, in the 78th year of his 

 age. 



He was much beloved and respected by the society of Manchester, 

 who honoured his remains with a public funeral. Such is a short sketch 

 of the few events which distinguished the career of this eminent philo- 

 sopher. I must now endeavour to make the Society acquainted with the 

 additions to our knowledge for which we are indebted to Dr. Dalton. 



