XXXV11 



same passage when I was unusually dense. He had himself taken lessons 

 from Smart, and he used to practise reading with exaggerated emphasis 

 occasionally. 



"In the earlier days of the juvenile lectures he used to encourage me to 

 tell him everything that struck me, and where my difficulties lay when I 

 did not understand him fully. In the next lecture he would enlarge on 

 those especial points, and he would tell me my remarks had helped him to 

 make things clear to the young ones. He never mortified me by wondering 

 at my ignorance, never seemed to think how stupid I was. I might begin 

 at the very beginning again and again ; his patience and kindness were un- 

 failing. 



" A visit to the laboratory used to be a treat when the busy time of the 

 day was over. 



" We often found him hard at work on experiments connected with his 

 researches, his apron full of holes. If very busy he would merely give a 

 nod, and aunt would sit down quietly with me in the distance, till pre- 

 sently he would make a note on his slate and turn round to us for a talk, 

 or perhaps he would agree to come upstairs to finish the evening with a 

 game at bagatelle, stipulating for half an hour's quiet work first to finish 

 his experiment. He was fond of all ingenious games, and he always ex- 

 celled in them. For a time he took up the Chinese puzzle, and, after 

 making all the figures in the book, he set to work and produced a new set 

 of figures of his own, neatly drawn, and perfectly accurate in their propor- 

 tions, which those in the book were not. Another time, when he had been 

 unwell, he amused himself with Papyro-plastics, and with his dexterous 

 fingers made a chest of drawers and pigeon-house, &c. 



"When dull and dispirited, as sometimes he was to an extreme degree, 

 my aunt used to carry him off to Brighton, or somewhere, for a few days, 

 and they generally came back refreshed and invigorated. Once they had 

 very wet weather in some out of the way place, and there was a want of 

 amusement, so he ruled a sheet of paper and made a neat draught-board, 

 on which they played games with pink and white lozenges for draughts. 

 But my aunt used to give up almost all the games in turn, as he soon be- 

 came the better player, and, as she said, there was no fun in being always 

 beaten. At bagatelle, however, she kept the supremacy, and it was long a 

 favourite, on account of its being a cheerful game requiring a little moving 

 about. 



" Often of an evening they would go to the Zoological Gardens and find 

 interest in all the animals, especially the new arrivals, though he was al- 

 ways much diverted by the tricks of the monkeys. We have seen him 

 laugh till the tears ran down his cheeks as he watched them. He never 

 missed seeing the wonderful sights of the day — acrobats and tumblers, 

 giants and dwarfs ; even Punch and Judy was an unfailing source of delight, 

 whether he looked at the performance or at the admiring gaping crowd. 



"He was very sensitive to smells; he thoroughly enjoyed a cabbage 



