286 



SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT. 



menced the long line of amateur star-gazers of this 

 country ; Luke Howard's study of clouds drew from the 

 kindred spirit which lived in the great Goethe a loving 

 memorial ; ^ and John Dalton was induced by the mists 

 and fogs of his native lake country to join in the foun- 

 dation of the modern science of meteorology. 



We now discover the reason why the strong individual- 

 dividuaiism ism of the Encjlish character, which prompted new de- 



and natural- *=' ' j. j. 



partures and inspired new ideas in science, as it produced 

 adventures and novel enterprise in life and arts, has not 

 more frequently led to discouraging failures in the latter, 

 or to eccentricity and dreaminess in the former ; why it 

 has, on the whole, alike in practical work and in scientific 

 study, been rewarded by signal success. The rare genius, 

 gifted with the power of original thought, who found no 

 academy ready to call him, no schools where he could be 

 trained, no university eager to nurse and develop his 



48. 

 Union of in 



isni in 

 England 



1 Luke Howard (1772-1864), a 

 member of the Society of Friends, 

 was one of the many lovers of nature 

 and amateur naturalists of this 

 country in whom new sciences 

 like thatof meteorology are nursed 

 during their unpretentious infancy. 

 He himself gave a simple narrative 

 of his life and doings to the great 

 Goethe, who, attracted by his at- 

 tempted classification of clouds 

 (about 1802, published in his 'Cli- 

 mate of London'), had addressed 

 some lines to him, accompanying 

 them by a statement in verse of 

 Howard's description of the stratus, 

 cumulus, cirrus, and nimbus : 



" Er aber, Howard, giebt mit reinem 



Sinn 

 Uns n(M\er Lelire heniiclisten Gewinn : 

 Was sich nicht halten, nicht erreiclien 



Kisst, 

 Er fasst es an, er halt zuerst es fest ; 



Bestimmt das Unbestimmte, scliriinkt es 



ein, 

 Benennt es treffend ! Sey die Ehre Dein ! 

 Wie Streife steigt, .sich ballt, zerflattert, 



fallt, 

 Eriunre dankbar Deiuer sich die Welt." 



Goethe subsequently tried to get 

 some information about Howard's 

 way of life, ' ' so that I might see 

 how such a mind is formed, what 

 opportunities, what circumstances, 

 have led him into ways of looking 

 at Natui-e naturally, have taught 

 him how to devote himself to her, so 

 as to find her laws and to prescribe 

 these again toher in anatural human 

 manner." Li his autobiographical 

 narrative (reprinted in the last vol- 

 ume of Goethe's Works) Howaixl 

 refers to the meteoric phenomena 

 of 178.3, mentioned also in Cow- 

 per's Letters (13th June 1788), aud 

 White's ' History of Selborne.' 



