. SOMERl'ILLE. 57 



illness, which tried her greatly. Before it was com- 

 pleted her son died. But she persevered with it, and 

 it remains a monument of her untiring industry and 

 energy. Yet in speaking of it afterwards, she said : 

 " In writing this book I made a great mistake, and 

 repent it. Mathematics are the natural bent of my 

 mind ; if I had devoted myself exclusively to that 

 study, I might probably have written something 

 useful." 



Indeed she knew her own powers well ; her bent 

 was decidedly for mathematics. Only a short time 

 before her death, when in her ninety-second year, she 

 wrote : " My memory of ordinary events, and espe- 

 cially of the names of people, is failing, but not for 

 mathematical and scientific subjects. I am still able 

 to read books on the higher algebra for four or five 

 hours in the morning, and even to solve the problems. 

 Sometimes I find them difficult, but my old obstinacy 

 remains, for if I do not succeed to-day, I attack them 

 again on the morrow." 



Again she wrote : " Though far advanced in years, 

 I take as lively an interest as ever in passing events. 

 I regret that I shall not live to know the result of the 

 expedition to determine the currents of the ocean, the 

 distance of the earth from the sun, determined by the 

 transits of Venus, and the source of the most renowned 

 of rivers, the discovery of which will immortalise the 

 name of Dr. Livingstone." And in another place: 

 " I mint mention how mucn I was pleased to hear that 



