LINNJiAN SOCIETY Or LONDON. xlvii 



interests in life but for the close friendship which subsisted between 

 his father and Mr. John Gibson, one of the firm of Howard, Jewell, 

 and Gibson (now Howards and Sons), whose eldest son and Mr. 

 Deane were great friends and constant companions. Mr, Deane 

 had the run of their laboratory and premises, and thus acquired a 

 taste for manufacturing chemistry. 



At the age of eighteen he was apprenticed for three years to a 

 chemist and druggist at Reading, Mr. Joseph Pardon, who had 

 served his time with Mr. Shillitoe, of Tottenham, who was Mr. 

 Deane's uncle. Mr. Fardon was a kind and considerate friend 

 and master, and while with him Mr. Deane was occupied in such 

 humble employment as powdering alum, ginger, and nutgalls, 

 grinding and mixing paints, polishing the shop scales, counter, and 

 bottles, and opening and shutting the shop. He had to open shop 

 summer and winter at six o'clock in the morning, a practice which 

 he continued with his own hands for many years after he went to 

 Clapham. To him activity was a necessity ; and lie rather liked 

 these tasks than otherwise, and he saw no indignity in performing 

 duties required by his master, which were in their nature not only 

 honest but calculated to improve him in the knowledge of his 

 business; for while grinding prussian blue or powdermg roots 

 and seeds he pondered over their physical constitution, and after- 

 wards studied their natural history. Mr. Deane considered that 

 this habit of doing any thing that was required of him was not only 

 of immediate benefit to himself, but that in after years it rendered 

 him more apt in teaching those placed under his care, and certainly 

 gave him an idea of the nature and requirements of the trade in 

 country places, such as London itself could not aff'ord. 



After he had served his time at Reading he got a situation at 

 John Bell and Co.'s, in Oxford Street, where he soon found that he 

 was unacquainted with the practical duties of a large business, and 

 found it heavy work with his average daily labour of fourteen hours. 

 He was much encouraged by the fi'iendship of both the late Jacob 

 and Frederick Bell, to whom he said that he owed a deep debt of 

 gratitude for their many acts of consideration towards him, and 

 for the opportunities placed in his way for improvement, especially 

 for allowing him to attend lectures at the Eoyal Institution by 

 Faraday and Brande. 



Mr. Deane was attached to the establishment in Oxford Street 

 for about five years ; but there was an interval of about two years, 

 during which he was at home endeavouring to manage and improve 



