OCCUPATIONS FAVOURABLE TO SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH. 263 



possessed only a moderate income through life ; Scheele, 

 Priestley, Davy, Dalton, and Faraday, may be included 

 in the number. Scheele was an apothecary's assistant, 

 Priestley a poor Unitarian student, Davy a surgeon's 

 apprentice, and Faraday the son of a blacksmith, and 

 apprenticed to a bookbinder. Dalton, who may be looked 

 upon as the chief discoverer of the atomic theory of che- 

 mistry, was a teacher of mathematics in Manchester, and 

 a man of very simple and frugal habits. Had he been more 

 expensive in his mode of life, his means would have been 

 insufficient; his apparatus and experiments also were of 

 the least expensive kind, in accordance with his means and 

 manner of living, Buifon, on the other hand, received 

 the best of education, and was a wealthy man ; he died at 

 81 years of age, and it is said that 20,000 persons attended 

 his funeral. Linnaeus was the son of a poor Swedish 

 clergyman, and whilst attending as a student at the Uni- 

 versity of Upsala had to exist upon an allowance of eight 

 pounds a year, which he received from his father. After 

 this, a rich banker, who was also a chemist, assisted him 

 greatly ; and his poverty did not last many years. He 

 was not strong, but lived to the age of 71 years, and often 

 expressed gratitude for the blessings of science, which had 

 afforded him so much interest and delight. His collection 

 of plants and insects was sold for 1,000 to Dr. E. 

 Smith, who whilst bringing it to England, was chased by 

 a man-of-war sent by the King of Sweden to try and 

 recover the collection ; the latter, however, arrived safely 

 in England, and is now in Burlington House, London. 

 Hunter was a delicate youth, and had but very little edu- 

 cation. He worked as a cabinet-maker, constructing 

 chairs and tables whilst an apprentice to his brother-in- 

 law ; and afterwards studied surgery. With the proceeds 

 of his practice as a surgeon, he bought all the bodies of 



