232 MY LIFE 



ing, though I soon get lost in the formulae. Still, the ever- 

 growing complexity of the higher mathematics has a kind of 

 fascination for me as exhibiting powers of the human mind 

 so very far above my own. 



There was in Leicester a very good town library, to which 

 I had access on paying a small subscription, and as I had 

 time for several hours' reading daily, I took full advantage of 

 it. Among the works I read here, which influenced my 

 future, were Humboldt's " Personal Narrative of Travels in 

 South America," which was, I think, the first book that gave 

 me a desire to visit the tropics. I also read here Prescott's 

 " History of the Conquests of Mexico and Peru," Robertson's 

 " History of Charles V." and his " History of America," and 

 a number of other standard works. But perhaps the most 

 important book I read was Malthus's " Principles of Popula- 

 tion," which I greatly admired for its masterly summary of 

 facts and logical induction to conclusions. It was the first 

 work I had yet read treating any of the problems of philo- 

 sophical biology, and its main principles remained with me 

 as a permanent possession, and twenty years later gave me 

 the long-sought clue to the effective agent in the evolution of 

 organic species. 



It was at Leicester that I was first introduced to a subject 

 which I had at that time never heard of, but which has played 

 an important part in my mental growth — psychical research, 

 as it is now termed. Some time in 1844 Mr. Spencer Hall 

 gave some lectures on mesmerism illustrated by experiments, 

 which I, as well as a few of the older boys, attended. I was 

 greatly interested and astonished at the phenomena exhibited, 

 in some cases with persons who volunteered from the audi- 

 ence ; and I was also impressed by the manner of the lecturer, 

 which was not at all that of the showman or the conjurer. 

 At the conclusion of the course he assured us that most per- 

 sons possessed in some degree the power of mesmerising others, 

 and that by trying with a few of our younger friends or 

 acquaintances, and simply doing what we had seen him do, we 



