JOSEPH HENRY, LL.D. 279 



face and figure, as if painted there. Why is this ? 

 You are told that it is done by reflection of light. 

 But what is reflection of light ? " 



Henry took up this book and began to read. 

 Soon it seemed more interesting than Brooke's 

 " Fool of Quality " and all the romances. At the 

 very next meeting of the theatrical society, he 

 resigned the presidency, telling his companions 

 that he should devote his life to solid studies. 



Eobert Boyle, seeing that the youth was inter- 

 ested in the book, gave it to him. It was ever 

 after preserved in Professor Henry's library, with 

 these words written on the fly-leaf : " This book, 

 although by no means a profound work, has, 

 under Providence, exerted a remarkable influence 

 upon my life. It accidentally fell into my hands 

 when I was about sixteen years old, and was the 

 first work I ever read with attention. It opened 

 to me a new world of thought and enjoyment ; 

 invested things before almost unnoticed with the 

 highest interest ; fixed my mind on the study of 

 nature, and caused me to resolve, at the time of 

 reading it, that I would immediately commence to 

 devote my life to the acquisition of knowledge." 



This resolution was at once put in practice, by 

 attending a night-school, where he soon learned all 

 that the master could teach. His next attempt at 

 education was to learn grammar of a travelling 

 teacher, and so skilled did he become that he made 

 a grammatical tour of the country districts, in imi- 

 tation of his instructor, earning enough money to 



