6 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP. 



are on my list. No doubt, many persons of 

 considerable position living in Edinburgh, Dub- 

 lin, and elsewhere at a distance from London, 

 are not among those with whose experiences 

 I am about to deal. But that is no objection ; 

 I do not profess or care to be exhaustive in my 

 data, only desiring to have a sufficiency of 

 material, and to be satisfied that it is good so 

 far as it goes, and a perfectly fair sample. I 

 do not particularly want a list that shall include 

 every man of science in England, but seek 

 for one that is sufficiently extended for my 

 purposes, and that contains none but truly 

 scientific men, in the usual acceptation of that 

 word. 



However, I have made some further estimates, 

 and conclude that an exhaustive list of men 

 of the British Isles, of the same mature ages 

 and general scientific status as those of whom 

 I have been speaking, would amount to 300, 

 but not to more. 



Some of my readers may feel surprise that 

 so many as 300 persons are to be found in 

 the United Kingdom who deserve the title of 



