in.] ORIGIN OF TASTE FOR SCIENCE. 205 



Mechanics. (2) The science of . . . . , which 

 I had learnt accidentally, became serviceable to 

 me when employed as an engineer. (3) My 

 profession fell in with my natural tastes. (4) 

 Pressure of circumstances. 



E. ENCOURAGEMENT AT HOME. 



Nearly one-third of the scientific men have 

 expressed themselves indebted to encouragement 

 at home. They received it in various ways ; 

 sometimes the influence of the parent was strong 

 and direct, as " their origin was due beyond 

 all doubt to my father's influence ; " sometimes 

 it was strong but general, as " I was in a general 

 atmosphere of scientific thinking and discus- 

 sion ; " sometimes it went no further than 

 indulgence, as "permission to carry on little 

 experiments at home in a room set apart for 

 the purpose." Under each and all of these 

 shapes it was truly welcome, and its effective- 

 ness may be in some measure estimated by the 

 vastly smaller number of cases in which success 



