CHILDHOOD AND EARLY LIFE 



Helmholtz manifested the same mental character- 

 istics as were shown in his early years. The same 

 love of nature, the same desire to penetrate her 

 secrets, the same determination to compel nature to 

 explain herself. As is the case with most men of 

 genius, he awakened early to his vocation. This 

 awakening of a young spirit may come in many 

 ways, and the time of its occurrence is always of 

 the deepest interest. The youthful artist then 

 recognises the beautiful, he clothes it with an ideal 

 which is the product of his own mind, and to give 

 to the ideal expression in form and colour is for ever 

 the aim of his life. In like manner the young 

 naturalist opens his eyes to the order of the universe, 

 he is impressed by the majesty of law, he feels the 

 first thrill of a desire to understand the method of 

 nature's working, and for him, in all his future life, 

 the driving power of all his faculties and the satis- 

 faction of all his ideals, is the pursuit of truth. 



