36 DYNAMICAL PRINCIPLE. 



prodigious mental affliction, have confessed, that nothing but 

 mathematical researches could withdraw their attention from 

 iheir situation. Instances are well known of a habit of 

 drinking being cured by the like means ; an inveterate taste 

 for play has, within my own observation, been found to give 

 way before the revival of an early love of analytical studies. 

 This is possibly a cause of the other tendency which has 

 been mentioned, the calming of the mind. Simson (the restorer 

 of the Greek geometry) tells us how he would fly from the con- 

 flicts of metaphysical and theological science, to that of neces- 

 sary truth, and how in those calm, retreats he ever " found 

 himself refreshed with rest." Greater tranquillity is possessed 

 by none than by geometricians. Even under severe privations 

 this is observed. The greatest of them all, certainly the 

 greatest after Newton, was an example. Euler lost his sight 

 after a long expectation of this calamity, which he bore with 

 perfectly equal mind ; both in the dreadful prospect and the 

 actual bereavement, his temper continued as cheerful as 

 before ; his mind, fertile in resources of every kind, supplied 

 the want of sight by ingenious mechanical devices, and by a 

 memory more powerful even than before.* He furnishes an 



* My late learned and esteemed friend, Mr. Gough, of Kendal, was 

 another example of studies being pursued under the same severe depriva- 

 tion but he had never known the advantages of sight, having lost his 

 eyes when an infant, and never had any distinct recollection of light. He 

 was an accomplished mathematician of the old school, and what is more 

 singular, a most skilful botanist. His prodigious memory resembled 

 Euler's, and the exquisite acuteness of his smell and touch supplied in a 

 great measure the want of sight. He would describe surfaces as covered 

 with undulations which to others appeared smooth and even polished. 

 His ready sagacity in naming any plant submitted to his examination was 

 truly wonderful. I had not only the pleasure of his acquaintance, but I 

 have many particulars respecting his rare endowments, from another 

 eminent mathematician, who unites the learning of the older with that of 

 the modern school, my learned friend and neighbour, Mr. Slee, of Tirrel. 

 A detailed account of Mr. Gough's case, by Mr. Slee and Professor Whewell 

 (a pupil of his), would be most curious and instructive. Euler's memory 

 was such, that he could repeat the vEnoid, noting the words that begin and 

 end each page. Mr. Gough also was an excellent classical scholar. 



