Bath in its relation to Science. 115 



grope our way amidst dir* conjecture ; not till we come to 

 the eleventh and twelfth centuries have we the names of any 

 men of science in Bath. 



History then tells of John de Villula who came to England 

 in the reign of William the Conqueror, and settled here. 

 The chief of the great Bath Monastery, he gathered around 

 him men from various countries distinguished for their learn- 

 ing. Of later date was Adelard, a scholar of Spanish, Egyp- 

 tian and Arabian reputation, to whom the scientific world 

 became indebted for the translation from Arabic into Latin 

 of the Elements of Euclid. One of the favourite studies of 

 the time was Alchemy, but the Priors of the Bath Monastery 

 found that there was a soul of good in things evil. Alchemy 

 was to them the parent of modern chemistry, — "the ill- 

 favoured parent," we are told, " of a fair and beautiful 

 daughter." Prior Birde, whose elegant little chapel is in the 

 Bath Abbey Church, found constant employment in his 

 laboratory, and Prior Holway directed his studies to the 

 causes of the temperature of the springs. 



Coming to the seventeenth century, we find that 

 Succeeding ^^ j-^^ writers on scientific subjects in Bath 



Centunes. _ ■' 



were medical men. They wrote chiefly on 

 questions connected with their profession ; one or two only 

 made original discoveries or enlarged other domains of human 

 knowledge. In the eighteenth century the record is more 

 satisfactory. We find a Philosophical Society, at the meet- 

 ings of which Papers were read by William Herschel, who, 

 though known, chiefly as Professor of Music, found time 

 while directing public concerts and giving private lessons, to 

 study Optics, Acoustics, Mathematics and Metaphysics. 

 Thus furnished he laid the foundation of his fame as an 

 astronomer. Too poor to buy a telescope he made one, 

 9* 



