HISTORY OF THE ATOMIC THEORY. 53 



spent in his laboratory, and all subjects not connected with 

 his pursuits were much neglected; he might have said of 

 their cultivation, as he said when asked why he never got 

 married, " I never had time." 



He rose at about eight o'clock in the morning; if in winter, 

 went with his lantern in his hand to his laboratory, lighted 

 the fire, and came over to breakfast, when the family had 

 nearly done. Went to the laboratory and staid till dinner 

 time, coming in a hurry when it was nearly over, eating 

 moderately and drinking water only. Went out again and 

 returned at about five o'clock to tea, still in a hurry, when 

 the rest were finishing. Again to his laboratory till nine 

 o'clock when he returned to supper, after which he and Mr. 

 Johns smoked a pipe, and the whole family seems much to 

 have enjoyed this time of conversation and recreation after 

 the busy day. Dr. Schunck, who dined there as a child at 

 school, says he never appeared in a hurry. 



He was rather silent, especially if the company were large, 

 but an attentive listener, whilst he occasionally introduced some 

 short sentence of dry humour. With a few of his intimate friends 

 he enjoyed much a lively conversation, but does not seem to 

 have been fitted for dealing with men assembled in large 

 numbers, either in public or private. This did not arise from 

 any want of self-possession, which is said never to have been 

 known to be ruffled: an illustration of this is given in 

 the following. When in using the air-pump at a lecture 

 a glass vessel burst, making a considerable noise and causing 

 the ladies to scream, he simply said, " that is more than I in- 

 tended, it's broken," and went on again. His disinclination 

 to speak made him, as a teacher, by no means communica- 

 tive ; he allowed his pupils to learn, and willingly answered 

 a question, but during the most of the time he was attending 

 to his experiments, thinking, probably, that they were much 

 better off than he ever was to have some one to apply to if a 

 difficulty arose. 



