210 The Smithsonian Institution 



be characteristic of New England, but would in Great Britain 

 pass anywhere as an excellent example of the very best Eng- 

 lish type. 



He was, as a boy, a most diligent and omnivorous reader, 

 interested alike in literature, art, and science, and utilized the 

 excellent public libraries of Boston, especially that of the 

 Athenaeum, and was often in attendance at the lectures of 

 the Lowell Institute. 



At the beginning of his scientific career his intellectual 

 capital appears to have been quite remarkable in extent and 

 character. His mind was well stocked with the best thoughts 

 of the great minds of the past. He possessed a cultivated 

 literary taste, ripened by an acquaintance with the art of the 

 Old World, the effect of which was at once evident when he 

 began to write for publication. He had skill in the manipu- 

 lation of tools, machinery, and instruments of precision, and 

 was able to direct others in their use. He was a practical en- 

 gineer, familiar with the computations and the applications of 

 mechanics and physics ; so familiar, indeed, that they were 

 mere pastime to him in their ordinary forms, and that his 

 mind was free to rove, like that of Leonardo da Vinci, in 

 search of abstruse and curious variants. He was a skilful 

 mechanical draughtsman. He was a trained man of business, 

 thrifty, alert, and progressive. Beyond all this his unjaded 

 mind, while mindful of the most minute details, was quick to 

 grasp the essence of the problems which he was studying. 

 His thoughts were almost prophetic in regard to the probable 

 result of experiments which he was about to begin, yet he was 

 ready to seize upon new developments as they occurred, no 

 matter how unexpected. His inquiries were forced to their 

 results with vigorous insistence. His conclusions were de- 

 veloped so clearly, definitely, and positively that it was im- 

 possible to misunderstand his meaning. So clearly were 



