130 THE MICROSCOPE. 



Pierce, Dr. Torrey, President Barnard, Alexander Agassiz, and Prof. 

 Wyman were among his firm friends and ardent admirers. 



At 19 years of age, Mr. Spencer is described as a genteel young 

 man of graceful appearance and studious habits; intimate with few 

 of his years, and very reserved; seldom seen on the streets, and 

 never around bar-rooms or public places; the people inclined to call 

 him shiftless and idle, not knowing how he employed his time. Yet 

 one intimate friend always knew where to find him — in the chamber 

 of his father's house. Here, tables, shelves and drawers were cov- 

 ered and filled with the greatest variety of philosophic and electric 

 apparatus. Here was where the "idle" boy was working away, with 

 habits of the most untiring industry. Not having the means to pur- 

 chase the tools and apparatus ne needed, he set about to construct 

 them himself. When only 12 years of age he ground and finished a 

 lens of moderate quality. By reading various articles on optics, he 

 became deeply interested in the construction of telescopes and mi- 

 croscopes; although he always declared, in those early years, that he 

 would under no circumstances become a mechanic choosing rather 

 a professional career. 



In a short time he made a number of compound microscopes, 

 one upon the refracting principle of Prof. Amici, and also Gregorian 

 and Newtonian telescopes, with specula of 6 and 8 inches in diam- 

 eter. How v\ell he succeeded in the manufacture of telescopes is 

 answered by referring to the one at Hamilton College, which 

 possesses many very superior qualities, and which has, in the hands 

 of Prof. Peters, brought the institution a world-wide fame. The 

 discovery by Goring, of the effects of angle of aperture, awakened 

 the deepest interest in the mind of young Spencer. He became 

 aware of the superior manufacture of optical glasses by Faraday, 

 Fraunhaufer and others, and over a furnace of his own construction 

 he would work, frequently t8 consecutive hours, trying to iniprcjve 

 upon the desirable qualities of his glass. In this, too, he was at last 

 successful, and was enabled thereby to make great advance upon 

 his previous efforts. We have the first edition of " Queckett on the 

 Microscope," and from page 440 we quote: 



'^Navicula Spcnccrii. — Early in the present year, Mr. Matthew 

 Marshall received some specimens of this species from Profes.sor 

 Bailey, of West Point, N. Y., who stated that an ol)ject glass, con- 

 structed by a young artist of the name of Spencer, living in the back 



