158 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAP. 



CHEMISTRY. 



(1) " Thoroughly innate. My first taste for 

 chemistry dates from the possession of a che- 

 mical box, when I was a little boy. Whenever 

 I had a chance of turning from other studies 

 to natural science, I always turned. I liked 

 play better than all other work, and chemistry 

 better than play." (a, b) 



(2) " Perhaps wholly innate. My first no- 

 tions of chemistry were picked up from books, 

 and I got the nickname of ' experimentalizer ' at 

 school. My taste for zoology arose through 

 friendship with . . , . My tastes were largely 

 determined by three years' voluntary work at 

 chemistry, under Dr. . . . ." (a, f) 



(3) "I was always observing and inquiring, 

 and this disposition was never checked nor ridi- 

 culed in my childhood. My taste for chemistry 

 dates from the lectures I attended as a boy, and 

 to the permission to carry on little experiments 

 at home in a room set apart for the purpose. 

 I was encouraged in my tastes at home. Sub- 



