370 Edward Livingston Youmans : 



Along with the elementary studies in science there Avent 

 a great deal of miscellaneous reading, mostly, it would 

 appear, of good solid books. Apparently there was at that 

 time no study of languages, ancient or modern. At the age 

 of seventeen the young man had shown so much promise 

 that it was decided he should study law, and he had already 

 entered upon a more extensive course of preparation in an 

 academy in Saratoga County when the event occurred which 

 changed the whole course of his life. He had been naturally 

 gifted with keen and accurate vision, was a good sportsman 

 and an excellent shot Avith a rifle, but at about the age of 

 thirteen there had come an attack of ophthalmia which left 

 the eyes weak and sensitive. Perpetual reading probably 

 increased the difficulty and hindered com])lete recovery. At 

 the age of seventeen violent inflammation set in, the sight 

 in one eye was completely lost, Avhile in the other it grew 

 so dim as to be of little avail. Sometimes he Avould be just 

 able to find his way about the streets, at other times the 

 blindness was almost total, and this state of things lasted 

 for nearly thirteen years. 



This dreadful calamity seemed to make it impossible to 

 continue any systematic course of study, and the outlook 

 for satisfactory work of any sort Avas extremely discouraging. 

 The first necessity Avas medical assistance, and in quest of 

 this Mr. Youmans came in the autumn of 1839 to Ncav 

 York, Avhere for the most part he S])ent the remainder of 

 his life. Until 1851 he Avas under the care of an occulist. 

 Under such circumstances, if a man of eager energy and 

 boundless intellectual craving Avere to be overAvhelmed 

 Avith despondency, Ave could not call it strange. If he Avere 

 to become dependent upon friends for the means of support, 

 it Avould be ungracious if not unjust to blame him. But 

 Edward Youmans Avas not made of the stuff that ac(piiesces 

 in defeat. He rose superior to calamity, he Avon the means 

 of livelihood, and in darkness entered upon the path to an 

 envial)le fame. At first he had to resign himself to 

 spending Aveary Aveeks over tasks that Avith sound eye-sight 

 could have been dispatched in as many days. He iuA-ented 

 some kind of Avriting-machine Avhicli held his paper flrmly 

 and enabled his ])en to folloAv straight lines at jjroper 

 distances apart. Long practice of tliis sort gaA'e his hand- 

 Avriting a peculiar character Avhich it retained in later years. 

 "When I first saAv it in 18G3 it seemed almost undecipher- 

 able; l)ut that Avas far from being the case, and, after I had 

 grown used to it, I found it but little less legible than the 



