16 Mary Somerville. 



constant companion : sitting on my shoulder, peck- 

 ing at my papers, and eating out of my mouth ; and 

 I am not ashamed to say I felt its accidental 

 death very much. 



Before the grass came up on this plot of ground, 

 its surface in the evening swarmed with earthworms, 

 which instantly shrank into their holes on the ap- 

 proach of a foot. My aunt Janet, who was then 

 with us, and afraid even to speak of death, waa 

 horrified on seeing them, firmly believing that she 

 would one day be eaten by them a very general 

 opinion at that time ; few people being then aware 

 that the finest mould in our gardens and fields 

 has passed through the entrails of the earthworm, 

 the vegetable juices it contains being sufficient to 

 maintain these harmless creatures. 



My mother was very much afraid of thunder and 

 lightning. She knew when a storm was near from 

 the appearance of the clouds, and prepared for it by 

 taking out the steel pins which fastened her cap on. 

 She then sat on a sofa at a distance from the fire- 

 place, which had a very high chimney, and read 

 different parts of the Bible, especially the sublime 

 descriptions of storms in the Psalms, which made 

 me, who sat close by her, still more afraid. We had 

 an excellent and beautiful pointer, called Hero, a 

 great favourite, who generally lived in the garden, but 



