150 JAMES CLERK MAXWELL. [CHAP. VI. 



gathered from Mr. Maxwell's letters to his son. The 

 following extracts are related to his first term at 



college : 



FROM HIS FATHER. 



Glenlair, 22d October 1850. 



Did Prof. Thomson catch you, and view your " dirt ;" l 

 and if so, what thought he thereof? 



Glenlair, 30th October 1850. 



Who is the lecturer in the Greek play ? Did I see 

 him while at Cambridge ? I am sorry to hear the Greek 

 class is a bad one, for you would have got more good of it 

 if [it] had required you to work to maintain a good position 

 in it ; but you should study your part well, for it is not 

 comparative excellence, but absolute, that will be of use in 

 University competitions. 



Glenlair, 8th Novr. 1850. 



You say your lecturer in Greek is good, so 1 hope you 

 profit accordingly, altho' your classfellows are not great 

 scholars. . . . 



... It would be necessary to take care there are no 

 mouse-holes. A very hungry Chapel mouse might come 

 through. There had been an entrance that way to the 

 Chapel. It would be to the organ loft. 



Have you called on Profs. Sedgwick at Trin., and 

 Stokes at Pembroke ? If not, you should do both. Stokes 

 will be most in your way if he takes you in hand at all. 

 Sedgwick is also a great Don in his line, and if you were 

 entered in Geology would be a most valuable acquaintance ; 

 and, besides, not going to him would be uncivil, both to him 

 and to the Alisons, after their having arranged the intro- 

 duction. Provide yourself with cards. 



It might be worth your while to stop at York to 

 view it. 



1 " Jamsie's dirt," the disrespectful name for the bits of unannealed 

 glass, etc. etc., in the Coterie-Sprache 



