CHAP. IV.] ' SOURCES OF PHYSICS ' LECTURES. 27 



My father also always held that the older a person grew 

 the more he should cultivate the acquaintance of young people ; 

 for by these means mutual benefit is derived. A young person 

 brings the new facts and feelings of the age added to a freshness 

 and vigour of mind, and thus prevents the elder from growing 

 old in intellect. 



To return to ' Sources of Physics,' a full analysis of that work 

 will be found in the Appendix, No. XII., together with the two 

 concluding chapters, which, as they treat on the relation of the 

 material to the immaterial, are there given in entirety, as they not 

 only strongly bear upon subjects in his mental philosophy,* but 

 further they fully demonstrate how Alfred Smee's mind was, as 

 a young man as in middle-age, ever dwelling upon that which is 

 infinite ; and how he was ever demonstrating that that which is 

 infinite must not be limited, neither must time be confounded 

 with eternity, matter with space, the body with the soul, or 

 material actions with God. 



Mr. Smee had for some time previously been elected lecturer 

 to the Aldersgate School of Medicine. In the Appendix, 

 No. XIII., is the Introductory Lecture delivered the 5th of 

 October, 1844, and in the same place at No. XIV. is part of 

 another lecture delivered before the same audience on the 9th 

 of December in the same year. The latter was embodied in a 

 paper entitled 'The Detection of Needles impacted in the 

 Human Frame.' During this year he received pressing letters 

 from the Koyal Institution authorities to lecture before that 

 scientific body, but I am not aware that he did so. 



His lectures were clearly delivered, and as it has been re- 

 marked of him, " he possessed great perspicuity of language," 

 and "his manner was pleasing;" but unfortunately he did not 

 possess a good voice. He suffered as a young man much from 

 affection of the throat, which often deprived him in a great 

 measure of the use of his voice, and rendered him for a 

 considerable time afterwards husky and hoarse. He used to 

 deplore his not possessing a melodious voice, which was indeed 

 a great drawback in his lecturing and in his speaking before 

 public meetings, which he did frequently throughout his life. 



A paper on the ' New Application of Electricity to Surgery ' 



was published in the 26th volume of the ' Philosophical Magazine.' 



The same year he was elected Vice-president of the Medical 



Society at King's College. I should not omit to mention that 



* See ' Electro-Biology,' and < The Mind of Man.' 



