44 A CHEMICAL TKIAD. 



which ebbs and flows, but like the current of an impetuous 

 river, which ever hurries on. It was difficult to regard the 

 tall factory-chimneys belching forth their smoke that morn- 

 ing, to gaze on the crowded streets, and to hear the busy click 

 of machinery mingling with the hum of men, without feeling 

 convinced that Manchester was a city of action, not of con- 

 templation that the worker-out of abstractions could find no 

 place there. Silently, amidst this din and throng, the tall 

 hard-featured lantern-bearer moves on. He goes towards the 

 Literary and Philosophic Institution. Suppose we follow. 



Is the man a lunatic ? Unmoved by the hum of passing 

 wayfarers, the lantern-bearer talks to himself. He talks of 

 Plato, of Pythagoras, and Thales ; he mentions also Lucre- 

 tius; then whimsically mixes up those antique names with 

 others of modern date. No, he is no lunatic, but a thinker 

 aloud, a reverist. Arrived at the door of the Institution, he 

 gives his lantern a shake, as much as to say, ( I have it now,' 

 then opens the door and enters. He next proceeds to the 

 laboratory, and deposits his lantern on the table. He then 

 lays and lights the fire, according to the most approved rules 

 of fuel economy a perfect model of a servant in the matter 

 of saving firewood ; for, of course, a servant he must be. 



Manchester has long been celebrated for her resident che- 

 mists. Calico-printing involves some of the highest branches 

 of apph'ed chemistry. Every new colour, almost every new 

 pattern which may appear from time to time on a piece of 

 Manchester printed goods, is the fruit of some new chemi- 

 cal discovery. In our curiosity, we wait. We like to see 

 clever men at work in their retreats. We are in no hurry : 

 the chemical professor will by and by walk in. But that lan- 

 tern-bearing Plato and Lucretius-quoting fire-lighter, we are 

 getting tired of him. There, he will go soon. He sweeps the 

 laboratory clean, and dusts the bottles. He goes, but not 

 away. He proceeds to an adjoining room, and taking his 

 stand in front of a wall, whereon hang several barometers, 



