BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 83 



learned importer informed her that Huxley believed that no ill 

 existed which some drug could not be found to cure. She was 

 warmly welcomed by the junior member of Cross and Bevan's 

 Laboratory, with whom she "discussed the field." He gave 

 her some very interesting analyses and compounds and the 

 results of his experiments with cellulose, telling her that each 

 plant had its own kind of cellulose, that in the lower plants 

 being less complex than in the higher. He listened with plea- 

 sure to her idea of the chemical evolution in plants. 



One of her most interesting experiences in London was her 

 interview with Professor, now Sir, William Crookes. 



"His house is large and elegant. An open fireplace in his 

 library insured a warmth, and he said to me that he could al- 

 ways think better in a warm room. Bookcases lined the walls. 

 The chair before his desk was wooden, with two depressions 

 where the thighs would come. The back was toward the fire, 

 and the desk stood parallel to the fireplace, the side almost 

 against the window. 



"He is a curious-looking man, gray-bearded, and his hair 

 also shows signs of snow. His mustache was waxed out sev- 

 eral inches, and this gave him quite a unique look. He was 

 handsomely dressed in dark cutaway coat and waistcoat, 

 light trousers, and a brilliant red necktie with long ends. This 

 color seems to be, just at present, the style, as I saw later sev- 

 eral of them at the Royal Society meeting. I asked him to 

 show me the photograph of his laboratory as I had seen it. 

 This surprised him very much. He said, l You must be a clair- 

 voyant.' I described some of the laboratory to him, and he 

 declared it was indeed like his room, but as the photographs 

 were only recently taken, and he had not given them away, it 

 was quite impossible for me to have seen them. 



"We soon passed to his laboratory which was adjoining 

 the library. He has in his first room the physical laboratory. 

 There is a tool-room, also used for glass-blowing. Then the 

 chemical laboratory. There is an entry which he can close 

 into a dark room for photography. He told me that he 

 amused himself a great deal with photography, and during 

 vacations and on trips he always took his camera and 



