Nov. 30. 1850.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



437 



sively made, may be carried in the memory and 

 become the subject of" successful peripatetic con- 

 teinphition. On this point a decideil experimental 

 opinion is here expressed : but were furtlier in- 

 stances aslced for, they may be found in Stewart, 

 Monge, and Chnsles, all of whom possessed this 

 power in an eminent ilegree. Indeed, without it, 

 all attempts to study the geometry of space (even 

 the very elements of descriptive geometry, to say 

 nothing of the more recondite investigations of the 

 science) would be entirely unproductive. It is, 

 moreover, a power capable of being acquired by 

 men of average intellect without extreme diffi- 

 cnlty ; and that even to the extent of "mentally 

 seeing" the constituent parts of figures which 

 have never been exhibited to the eye either by 

 drawings or models. 



That such men, if once imbued with a love for 

 geometry, and having once got over the drudgery 

 of elementary acquisition, slinuld be favourably 

 situated for its cultivation, follows as a matter of 

 course. The great difficulty lay in finding sufli- 

 cient stimulus for their ambition, good models for 

 their imitation, and adequate facilities for ])ublish- 

 iiig the results at which they had arrived. The 

 admirable history of the contents of their scanty 

 libraries, given by Mr. Wllkinson, leaves nothing 

 more to be said on that head ; except, perhaps, 

 that he attributes rather more to the infiiences of 

 Emerson's writings than I am able to do.* As 

 regards their facilities for publication, these were 

 few, the periods of publicati(jn being rarely shorter 

 than annual ; and amongst so many competitors, 

 the space which could be allotted to each (even to 

 "the best men") was extremely limited. Yet, 

 contracted as the means of publication were, the 

 spirit of emulation did something; from the belief 

 that iimertion teas an admitted test of superiority, 

 it was as much an object of ambition amongst 

 these men to solve the " prize question" as it 

 was by philosopliers of higher social standing to 

 gain the "prize" conferred by the Academie des 

 Sciences, or any other continental society under 

 the wing of Royalty, at the same period. The 

 prize (half a dozen or a dozen copies of the work 

 itself) was not less an object of triumph, than a 

 Copley or a Jioyal nielal is in our own time 

 amongst the philosophers of the Royal Society. 



These men, i'rom similarity of euiployment, and 

 inevital)le contiguity of position, were brought 

 into intercourse almost of necessity, and the form- 

 ation of a little society (such as the "Oldham") 

 the natural result — the older and more experi- 

 enced men taking the lead in it. At the same 

 time, there can be little doulit that tlie Spitaliields 

 Society was the pattern after which it was formed; 

 and there can be as little doubt that one or more 

 i)f its founders had resided in London, and 



* See Philutnphical Magazine, Sept. 1850. 



"wrought" in the metropolitan workshops. Could 

 the records of the " Mathematical Society of 

 London" (now in the archives of the l^oyal Astro- 

 nomical Society) be carefully examined, some 

 light might be thrown upon this question. A list 

 of members attending every weekly meeting, as 

 well as of visitors, was always kept ; and these 

 lists (I have been informed) have been carefully 

 preserved. No doubt any one interested in the 

 question would, upon application to the secretary 

 (Professor De Morgan), obtain ready access to 

 these documents. 



The preceding remarks will, in some degree, 

 furnish the elements of an answer to the inquiry, 

 " Why did geometrical speculation take so much 

 deeper root amongst the Lancashire weavers, than 

 amongst any other classes of artisans ? " The sub- 

 ject was better adapted to the weaver's mechanical 

 life than any other that could be named ; for even 

 the other favourite subjects, botany and entomology, 

 required the suspension of their proper employ- 

 ment at the h)om. The formation of the Oldham 

 Society was calculated to keep alive the aspiration 

 for distinction, as well as to introduce novices into 

 the arcanium of geometry. There was generous 

 co-operation, and there was keea competition, — 

 the sure stimulants to eminent su-ccess. The un- 

 adulterated love of any intellectual pursuit, apart 

 from the love of fame or the hope of emolument, 

 is a rare quality in all stages of society. Few men, 

 however, seem to have realised Basil Montagu's 

 idea of being governed by "a love of excellence 

 rather than the pride of excelling," so closely as the 

 Lancashire geometers of that period — imculti- 

 vated as was the age in which they lived, rude as 

 was the society in which their lives were passed, 

 and selfish as the brutal treatment received in 

 those days by mechanics from their employers, 

 was calculated to render them. They were sur- 

 rounded, enveloped, by the worst social and moral 

 inrtuences; yet, so far as can now be gathered 

 from isolated remarks in the periodicals of the 

 time, they may be held up as a pattern worthy of 

 the imitation of the philosophers of our own time, 

 in respect to the generosity and strict honour 

 which marked their intercourse with one another. 



Mathematicians seldom grow up solitarily in 

 any locality. When one arises, the absence of all 

 external and social incentives to the study can 

 only betoken an inherent propensity and consti- 

 tutional fitness for it. Such a man is too much in 

 earnest to keep liis knowledge to himself, or to 

 wish to stand alone. lie makes disciples, — he 

 aids, encourages, guides them. His own nscarches 

 are fully communicated ; ami this with a prodi- 

 gality proportioned to his own great resources. 

 He feels no jealousy of competition, and is always 

 gratified by seeing others successful. Thus such 

 bodies of men are created in wonderfully short 

 periods by the magnanimous labours of one ardent 



