BOYHOOD. 35 



Hemipterous insect, many moths (Zygsena), and a 

 Cicindela which are not found in Shropshire. I almost 

 made up my mind to begin collecting all the insects 

 which I could find dead, for on consulting my sister I 

 concluded that it was not right to kill insects for the 

 sake of making a collection. From reading White's 

 ' Selborne,' I took much pleasure in watching the 

 habits of birds, and even made notes on the subject. 

 In my simplicity I remember wondering why every 

 gentleman did not become an ornithologist. 



Towards the close of my school life, my brother 

 worked hard at chemistry, and made a fair laboratory 

 with proper apparatus in the tool-house in the garden, 

 and I was allowed to aid him as a servant in most of 

 his experiments. He made all the gases and many 

 compounds, and I read with care several books on 

 chemistry, such as Henry and Parkes' ' Chemical 

 Catechism.' The subject interested me greatly, and we 

 often used to go on working till rather late at night. 

 This was the best part of my education at school, for 

 it showed me practically the meaning of experimental 

 science. The fact that we worked at chemistry some- 

 how got known at school, and as it was an unpre- 

 cedented fact, I was nicknamed " Gas." I was also 

 once publicly rebuked by the head-master, Dr. Butler, 

 for thus wasting my time on such useless subjects ; 

 and he called me very unjustly a " poco curante," and 

 as I did not understand what he meant, it seemed to 

 me a fearful reproach. 



As I was doing no good at school, my father wisely 

 took me away at a rather earlier age than usual, and 



D 2 



