n8 LIFE AND EXPERIENCES CHAP. 



These meetings are occasionally attended by a certain 

 number of persons who are eccentric, to put it mildly. 

 Sir George Airy was president of Section A, and 

 during the discussion of some interesting mathematical 

 question a man in the audience rose from his seat and, 

 holding up his watch, addressed the President in a loud 

 voice as follows : " Mr. President, if you will kindly 

 look at this instrument you will see plainly indicated 

 on it the pulsations of the universe." Upon which Sir 

 George Airy, who never lost his presence of mind, 

 quietly remarked : " Very good, sir ; pray sit down just 

 now, we will consider the matter later on," and then 

 sent one of the secretaries to the unfortunate man, who 

 was persuaded to retire. On that occasion Manchester 

 seems to have been rather flooded with persons of this 

 sort, for during the meeting one of these men came to 

 the President, who sent him on to me as a local secre- 

 tary to deal with. At that time, as will be remem- 

 bered, Lancashire was suffering from the cotton famine, 

 to which I shall again refer. This man came to me 

 with a parcel under his arm, and stated that he wished 

 to bring before the Association a discovery he had 

 made relating to a new textile raw material which in his 

 opinion would altogether supersede the use of cotton, 

 and he wished to know to which of the sections his com- 

 munication should be addressed. I then asked him as 

 to the nature of his discovery, and to describe the 

 material. " Well," said he, "it is one of very general 

 occurrence ; in fact, it is the human hair ! I have found 

 a means of stimulating the growth of the human hair to 

 an altogether unprecedented extent; and I have here," 

 he added, unfolding his parcel, " a piece of cloth manu- 

 factured from the hair of my sister, from whom I have 

 succeeded in obtaining this year two large crops ! " I 

 told him that I thought the subject was more suited to 



