12 JAMES CLEUK MAXWELL 



mode of locomotion was in a kind of rough dog-cart 

 known in tho family speech as a hurly."* 



Mrs. Maxwell writes thusf, when the boy was 

 nearly three years old, to her sister, Miss Jane Cay : 



44 Ho is a very happy in. m, ami lias improved much 

 the weather #>t moderate, lie has tfreat work -with doors, 

 locks, keys, etc., ami 'Show me how it i loos' is never out of 

 his mouth. He also investigates the hidden course of streams 

 ami l>ell-wires the way the water nets from tlie jM>n<l through 

 the wall ami a peml or small bridge ami down a drain into 

 Water Orr, then past the smiddy and down to the sea, where 

 Mary's ships sail. As to the Mis, they will not rust; he 

 stands sentry in the kitchen and Mag runs through the house 

 rin#injT them all by turns, or he rin^s and semis Bessy to see 

 and shout to let him know ; and he dra^s papa all over to 

 show him the holes where the wires # through." 



To discover " how it doos " was thus early his aim. 

 His cousin, Mrs. Blackburn, tells us that throughout 

 his childhood his constant question was, " What's the 

 go of that ? What does it do > " And if the answer 

 were too vague or inconclusive, ho would add, " Hut 

 what's the paHiculur go of that > " 



Professor Campbell's most interesting account of 

 these early years is illustrated by a number of 

 sketches of episodes in his life. In one Maxwell is 

 absorbed in watching tho tiddler at a country dance ; 

 in another he is teaching his dog some tricks ; in 

 a third he is helping a smaller boy in his efforts 

 to build a castle. Together with his cousin, Miss 

 Wcdderburn, he devised a number of figures for a 



Life of J. C. Maxwell," p. 20. 

 f " Lifo of J. C. Maxwell," p. 27. 



