﻿PREHISTORIC 
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  DAYS 
  

  

  225 
  

  

  subjects 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  really 
  excelled, 
  such 
  

   as 
  music, 
  botany, 
  and 
  natural 
  history, 
  

   formed 
  no 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  school 
  curriculum. 
  

   For 
  Latin 
  and 
  Greek 
  I 
  felt 
  no 
  taste. 
  

   Geography, 
  too, 
  I 
  found 
  dry 
  and 
  unin- 
  

   teresting. 
  

  

  In 
  arithmetic 
  alone 
  I 
  think 
  I 
  took 
  an 
  

   average 
  stand. 
  My 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  

   processes 
  of 
  arithmetic 
  was 
  fairly 
  good, 
  

   but 
  I 
  failed 
  sadly 
  in 
  the 
  execution. 
  In 
  

   exercises 
  in 
  proportion, 
  for 
  example, 
  I 
  

   found 
  little 
  difficulty 
  in 
  stating 
  the 
  pro- 
  

   portion 
  correctly, 
  but 
  could 
  rarely 
  work 
  

   out 
  the 
  correct 
  answer, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  

   mistakes 
  in 
  addition, 
  subtraction, 
  multipli- 
  

   cation, 
  and 
  division. 
  

  

  My 
  poor 
  standing 
  in 
  school 
  was, 
  I 
  

   think, 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  lack 
  of 
  ambition 
  rather 
  

   than 
  of 
  real 
  lack 
  of 
  ability, 
  for 
  I 
  excelled 
  

   in 
  the 
  unusual 
  studies 
  I 
  pursued 
  out 
  of 
  

   school 
  hours 
  and 
  in 
  which 
  I 
  took 
  a 
  real 
  

   interest. 
  

  

  MUSIC 
  WAS 
  AN 
  EARLY 
  PASSION 
  

  

  Music 
  especially 
  was 
  my 
  earliest 
  hobby. 
  

   I 
  learned 
  to 
  play 
  the 
  piano 
  at 
  such 
  an 
  

   early 
  age 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  no 
  recollection 
  now 
  

   of 
  a 
  time 
  when 
  I 
  could 
  not 
  play. 
  I 
  seem 
  

   to 
  have 
  picked 
  it 
  up 
  by 
  myself 
  without 
  

   any 
  special 
  instruction, 
  and 
  although 
  I 
  

   knew 
  nothing 
  of 
  written 
  music, 
  I 
  could 
  

   play 
  anything 
  I 
  heard 
  by 
  ear 
  and 
  could 
  

   improvise 
  at 
  the 
  piano 
  for 
  any 
  length 
  of 
  

   time. 
  

  

  Of 
  course, 
  it 
  is 
  difficult 
  for 
  me 
  now 
  to 
  

   form 
  any 
  true 
  estimate 
  as 
  to 
  what 
  my 
  

   real 
  abilities 
  were 
  in 
  this 
  direction 
  as 
  a 
  

   little 
  child, 
  but 
  some 
  circumstances 
  seem 
  

   to 
  indicate 
  that 
  they 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  ex- 
  

   ceptional. 
  

  

  A 
  distinguished 
  professor 
  of 
  music, 
  

   Signor 
  Auguste 
  Benoit 
  Bertini, 
  heard 
  me 
  

   improvising 
  at 
  the 
  piano, 
  and 
  when 
  he 
  

   found 
  that 
  I 
  had 
  received 
  no 
  instruction 
  

   in 
  music 
  and 
  knew 
  nothing 
  of 
  notes, 
  he 
  

   adopted 
  me 
  as 
  a 
  musical 
  protege. 
  For 
  

   some 
  months 
  he 
  gave 
  me 
  instruction 
  in 
  

   his 
  system 
  of 
  reading 
  music 
  at 
  sight. 
  

  

  He 
  was 
  then 
  an 
  old 
  man 
  and 
  did 
  not 
  

   live 
  long. 
  I 
  have 
  a 
  faint 
  recollection 
  of 
  

   my 
  last 
  interview 
  with 
  him, 
  when 
  he 
  pre- 
  

   sented 
  me 
  with 
  everything 
  necessary 
  to 
  

   teach 
  his 
  system 
  of 
  music 
  and 
  expressed 
  

   the 
  hope 
  that 
  when 
  I 
  grew 
  up 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  man 
  

   I 
  would 
  not 
  let 
  him 
  be 
  forgotten. 
  After 
  

   his 
  death 
  I 
  received 
  no 
  further 
  formal 
  in- 
  

   struction 
  in 
  music 
  excepting 
  from 
  my 
  

  

  MUSIC 
  WAS 
  MY 
  EARLIEST 
  HOBBY 
  

  

  mother, 
  who 
  sought 
  to 
  carry 
  out 
  Bertini's 
  

   ideas 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  she 
  could. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  rather 
  a 
  curious 
  fact 
  that 
  the 
  

   moment 
  I 
  learned 
  to 
  read 
  music 
  from 
  

   notes 
  I 
  gradually 
  lost 
  the 
  faculty 
  of 
  play- 
  

   ing 
  by 
  -ear. 
  

  

  The 
  promise 
  of 
  my 
  early 
  childhood 
  in 
  

   the 
  musical 
  direction 
  did 
  not 
  materialize, 
  

   and 
  although 
  during 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  my 
  boy- 
  

   hood 
  my 
  great 
  ambition 
  was 
  to 
  become 
  a 
  

   musician, 
  I 
  gave 
  up 
  music 
  when 
  I 
  entered 
  

   upon 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  teaching 
  the 
  deaf. 
  

  

  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  think, 
  however, 
  that 
  

   my 
  early 
  passion 
  for 
  music 
  had 
  a 
  good 
  

   deal 
  to 
  do 
  in 
  preparing 
  me 
  for 
  the 
  scien- 
  

   tific 
  study 
  of 
  sound. 
  

  

  NATURE 
  STUDY 
  

  

  As 
  a 
  child, 
  I 
  took 
  a 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  in- 
  

   terest 
  in 
  flowers 
  and 
  plants 
  and 
  formed 
  a 
  

   large 
  herbarium, 
  arranged 
  according 
  to 
  

   the 
  Linnean 
  system 
  of 
  botany. 
  

  

  I 
  am 
  inclined 
  to 
  think 
  now 
  that 
  I 
  must 
  

   have 
  had 
  assistance, 
  probably 
  from 
  my 
  

   father, 
  in 
  studying 
  botany. 
  It 
  is 
  very 
  un- 
  

   likely 
  that 
  a 
  little 
  child 
  could 
  take 
  it 
  up 
  

   by 
  himself. 
  My 
  collection 
  of 
  plants 
  gradu- 
  

   ally 
  gave 
  way 
  to 
  collections 
  of 
  shells 
  and 
  

   birds' 
  eggs. 
  Then 
  came 
  butterflies 
  and 
  

   beetles 
  and 
  finally 
  the 
  skeletons 
  of 
  small 
  

   animals, 
  like 
  frogs 
  and 
  toads, 
  mice 
  and 
  

   rats. 
  

  

  On 
  one 
  occasion 
  my 
  father 
  presented 
  

   me 
  with 
  a 
  dead 
  sucking 
  pig, 
  and 
  the 
  "dis- 
  

   tinguished 
  professor 
  of 
  anatomy" 
  was 
  

  

  