74 A Century of Science 



man and an excellent shot with a rifle ; but at 

 about the age of thirteen there had come an attack 

 of ophthalmia, which left the eyes weak and sensi 

 tive. Perpetual reading probably increased the 

 difficulty and hindered complete recovery. At the 

 age of seventeen violent inflammation set in ; 

 the sight in one eye was completely lost, while in 

 the other it grew so dim as to be of little avail. 

 Sometimes he would be just able to find his way 

 about the streets, at other times the blindness was 

 almost total ; and this state of things lasted for 

 nearly thirteen years. 



This dreadful calamity seemed to make it im 

 possible to continue any systematic course of study, 

 and the outlook for satisfactory work of any sort 

 was extremely discouraging. The first necessity 

 was medical assistance, and in quest of this Mr. 

 Youmans came in the autumn of 1839 to New 

 York, where for the most part he spent the re 

 mainder of his life. Until 1851 he was under the 

 care of an oculist. Under such circumstances, if 

 a man of eager energy and boundless intellectual 

 craving were to be overwhelmed with despondency, 

 we could not call it strange. If he were to be 

 come dependent upon friends for the means of sup 

 port, it would be ungracious, if not unjust, to blame 

 him. But Edward Youmans was not made of the 



