AmMa?%906arm'}      Notes  on  the  New  Pharmacopoeia.  20$ 
abilities.  I  have  never  heard  that  this  was  the  case.  I  am  of  the 
opinion  that  he  owes  his  success  more  to  his  own  efforts  than  to 
natural  talent  greatly  above  the  average.  But  I  want  to  speak  to 
you  now  of  a  man  who  was  never  considered  to  have  more  than 
ordinary  ability,  and  yet  see  what  he  has  accomplished.  I  refer  to 
Admiral  Togo.  At  fifty- eight  years  of  age  he  stands  before  the 
world  as  its  greatest  admiral.  Let  us  look  at  his  career.  His 
parents  seem  to  have  been  moderately  well  to  do.  His  mother,  a 
person  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  up  to  his  twelfth  year  gave 
him  all  the  schooling  that  he  had.  From  twelve  to  fifteen  years  of 
age,  he  studied  under  a  teacher  all  the  branches  of  knowledge  and 
all  the  accomplishments  which  were  taught  in  Japan  at  that  time. 
11  Friends  of  the  family,  who  remember  him  as  a  boy,  say  that  he 
was  a  diligent  student,  and  that  among  the  boisterous  and  turbulent 
boys  of  Satsuma,  where  he  was  living,  he  was  distinguished  for  his 
modesty  and  quiet  seriousness  of  demeanor ;  but  no  one  who  knew 
him,  gave  him  credit  for  anything  more  than  ordinary  ability." 
When  fifteen  years  old,  he  became  a  naval  apprentice  on  a  Japanese 
warship.  When  scarcely  seventeen  years  old  he  was  on  board  a 
man-of-war  when  some  firing  took  place  between  some  British  and 
Japanese  ships,  and  Togo  appears  to  have  been  impressed  with  the 
gun-practice  and  tactics  of  the  British  ships,  for  he  seems  then  to 
have  formed  the  purpose  to  go  to  England  for  the  purpose  of  studying: 
naval  science,  and  it  is  believed  that  that  decision  came  as  the  result 
of  the  experience  he  had  at  this  time.  Accordingly,  when  twenty- 
two  years  of  age,  he  went  to  Yokohama,  and  there  began  the  study 
of  the  English  language,  meanwhile  begging  the  Japanese  govern, 
ment  to  send  him  as  a  naval  student  to  Great  Britain.  Two  years 
later  he  was  sent,  being  one  of  a  party  of  twelve.  Of  his  life  in 
England  we  have  very  little  information,  but  he  finally  succeeded  in 
obtaining  a  cadetship  on  the  warship  Worcester  at  Plymouth. 
Capt.  Henderson  Smith,  who  was  then  in  charge  of  the  Worcester, 
said  this  of  Togo :  "  Togo  was  an  excellent  fellow.  He  was  not 
what  you  would  call  brilliant,  but  a  great  plodder,  slow  to  learn,  but 
very  sure  when  he  had  learned  it,  and  he  wanted  to  learn  every- 
thing. He  was  a  quiet,  good,  temperate  young  fellow,  and  as  brave 
as  a  lion."  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  none  of  the  people  who 
knew  Togo  in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  gave  him  credit  for  talent 
or  exceptional  ability  of  any  kind.    His  English  teacher  in  Yoko- 
