CHAP. II.] YOUTHFUL TRAl'ELS, 1826 27. 21 



observer of nature and the cautious and correct reasoner 

 which he afterwards became. 



In November 1825 he for the first time entered College 

 in the University of Edinburgh, and joined the classes 

 of Latin and of Chemistry. The latter class was then 

 Jit by Dr. Hope ; and Sir William Forbes attended 

 it that session along with his son. It is noteworthy that 

 i 'iily three months before this entrance at College, viz. in 

 August 1825, the entry in his journal * Began Euclid' 



o 



occurs. 



So the young physicist had been for years groping his 

 into all the wonders of nature and astronomy by 

 self-prompted experiments and self-taught calculations 

 without any knowledge of regular geometry. Nothing 

 can show more how strong was the native bias, 

 how deep the craving to pry into the secrets of the 

 physical world. Of his first session at College no record 

 iv mains. Two things only are noteworthy : first, that in 

 attending during this winter a private Greek class he 

 made his first friendship beyond his own family circle ; 

 other, that he must have made good use of his winter 

 in the Latin class, as is proved by the familiarity with 

 which he turned to the pages of Virgil and Horace when 

 the next winter found him in Italy. 



About the close of his first year at College that is, in 



the spring of 1826 he entered on another stage of his 



self-education, which was destined to have important 



results. He commenced an anonymous correspondence, 



unknown to all his friends, on scientific matters with 



late Sir David Brewster. That celebrated man of 



science, then in the full swing of his long and untiring 



energy, was at this time among other work- < ; my ing 



hie \\vll-kno\vji J'/n'/<*oj>l t ical Journal. The young 



enthusiast of seventeen ventured to offer him a paper for 



ti<n in the Journal, and was warmly welcomed by 



'On the 29th May, 1826, is recorded my tirM com- 

 :iication un<l< r tin signature of A to Sir I >. I 

 It was a calculation of a conjunction of Juj'itn* ami 



