JOSEPH HENRY 



121 



"This book although by no means a profound work, has under 

 Providence exerted a remarkable influence on my life. It acci- 

 dentally fell into my hands when I was about sixteen years old, 

 and was the first book I ever read with attention. It opened to 

 me a new world of thought and enjoyment; invested things be- 

 fore almost unnoticed, with the highest interest; fixed my mind 

 on the study of nature; and caused me to resolve at the time of 

 reading it, that I would immediately commence to devote my 

 life to the acquisition of knowledge. 



" J. H." 



His mother's means were, however, too limited to permit of his 

 constant attendance at a school. He began by taking evening 

 lessons from two of the professors in the Albany Academy, his 

 main subjects of study being geometry and mechanics. For a 

 period he was teacher in a country school. He thus gained a small 

 sum which enabled him to enter as a regular student at the Albany 

 Academy where, however, his studies had again to be interrupted. 

 After another brief absence he returned to his school, where he 

 finished his studies when about eighteen years of age. His record 

 was now so good that Dr. Romeyn Beck, the principal of the 

 Academy, recommended him to the position of private tutor in the 

 family of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, the patron, who was 

 also officer of the first board of trustees of the Academy. He 

 found this situation to be a very pleasant one, and was treated 

 with great consideration by the family of Mr. Van Rensselaer. 

 His duties required only his morning hours so that he could devote 

 his entire afternoons to mathematical and physical studies. In 

 the former he went so far as to read the Mecanique Analytique of 



La Grange. YrV*-" JU-fc^ ? 



Thejnyestigator never works at |fig fr>*t withmit th* aid anH 

 encouragement of ]\\<\ ffMrmr.^ TM C indispensable require- 



ment was afforded to the young scientist by the organization of the 

 Albany Institute in 1824, of which the patron was the first Presi- 

 dent. Henry at once became an active member of this society. 

 His first paper was read October 30, 1824, on the Chemical and 

 Mechanical Effects of Steam. In this paper he gave the results 

 of very ingenious experiments on the temperature of steam escap- 





