2Ö 
HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 
for study and advancement of knowledge.” The writer in a 
private letter accompanying it called attention to the fact that 
it was “ intended to be more than an ordinary letter of introduc¬ 
tion to an individual or individuals would be.” In the notes 
that she made of her experiences in various educational centres, 
at universities, museums, and laboratories, she usually found, to 
her surprise, that she had no need of any introduction. The 
magic of her name was an open sesame to all doors. Her re¬ 
searches had made her known to the learned world of Eng¬ 
land and the Continent. 
These notes were jotted down, as she went from place to 
place, and were afterwards, as she found time amid all the dis¬ 
tractions of travel and assiduous work, copied into a book. 
Many of them are accompanied by quick pencil-drawings of 
such chemical or scientific apparatus as attracted her attention 
by their usefulness, originality, or peculiarities. Occasionally, 
also, the autographs of famous foreign chemists, German or 
Swedish, are attached to the manuscript. With the aid of these 
notes, we are enabled to follow her pilgrimage—for a strictly 
scientific pilgrimage it was—from place to place, almost from 
day to day. One cannot fail on reading them carefully to be 
impressed by her keenness of observation, her enthusiasm for 
knowledge, her readiness to adapt and adopt every improve¬ 
ment brought to her notice, the breadth of her views, and the 
wonderful dignity and charm of her attitude as a representative 
of American science in the person of a young woman asking 
admittance to conservative institutions on equal terms with 
men, and yet never in any way transcending the proprieties 
of womanliness. She was accompanied by her colored maid, 
who served as a sort of bodyguard and symbol of station, and 
everywhere attracted much attention, which she endured with 
imperturbable good nature. 
She went directly to Manchester, England, where the Brit¬ 
ish Association for the Advancement of Science met in the 
early days of September, during the great Exhibition of 1887. 
Of the evening meeting, which was addressed by Professor 
Sir Henry Roscoe, she says: — 
“The hall was crowded. We had seats in front row of gal- 
