Youth and Education. 25 



his leisure hours. He repeated many of the experi- 

 ments with crude appliances of his own makinj^, for 

 Vincent Youmans always encouraged the use of tools 

 by his sons. Edward's most striking experiment was 

 with a centrifugal water wheel. He first made one 

 with arms not more than three inches long, and poured 

 the water into the vertical shaft from a teakettle. 

 When the wheel began to revolve in a direction oppo- 

 site to that of the stream he was exultant, and at once 

 entered upon the building of a larger and better model, 

 moved by raising a small dam in a spring-fed stream 

 near the house. This machine was a source of interest 

 to all the boys and not a few of the men in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and Edward was happy in explaining to 

 them the principle of its motion. It was his earliest at- 

 tempt at giving scientific lectures. It was natural that 

 one who had become interested in physics should wish 

 to study chemistry. The teacher (who was not Uncle 

 Good) had never so much as laid eyes on a text-book 

 of chemistry ; but Edward was not to be daunted by 

 such trifles. A copy of Comstock's manual was pro- 

 cured, another pupil was found willing to join in the 

 study, and this class of two proceeded to learn w^hat 

 they could from reading the book, while the teacher 

 asked them the printed questions — those questions the 

 mere existence of which in text-books is apt to show 

 what a low view publishers take of the average intelli- 

 gence of teachers ! It was not a very hopeful way of 

 studying such a subject as chemistry ; but the time 

 was not wasted, and the foundations for a future knowl- 

 edge of chemistry were laid. The experience of farm 

 work w^hich accompanied these studies awakened an 

 especial interest in agricultural chemistry, and explains 

 the charm which that subject had for Youmans in later 



