g strict attention to the words as
words, and forming a mental picture of the paragraphs as they were
grouped in the book. Certain, I am, that their sense never made much
impression on me, for, when questioned by the teacher, I was always
sent to the bottom of the class, though apparently I had learned my
exercise to perfection.

"When I was twelve years old, I made the acquaintance of a very
ingenious boy, who came to our school. Samuel Bridge was a born
mechanic. Though only a year older than myself, such was his ability
in the use of tools, that he could construct a model of any machine
that he saw. He awakened in me a love of mechanical construction, and
together we made models of colliery winding-frames, iron-rolling mills,
trip-hammers, and water-wheels. Some of them were not mere toys, but
constructed to scale, and were really good working models. This love
of mechanical construction has never left me, and I shall always
remember with affection Samuel Bridge, who first taught me to use the
hammer and file. The last I heard of him was in 1875, when he passed
his examination as a schoolmaster, in honours, and was at the head of
his list.

"During the next two years, when between twelve and fourteen, I made
comparatively slow progress at school. I remember having to write out
the fourth commandment from memory. The teacher counted twenty-three
mistakes in ten lines of my writing. It will be seen from this, that,
as regards learning, I continued heedless and backward. About this
time, my father, who was a good violinist, took me under his tuition.
He made me practice on the violin about an hour and a half a day. I
continued this for a long time. But the result was failure. I hated
the violin, and would never play unless compelled to do so. I suppose
the secret was that I had no 'ear.'

"It was different with subjects more to my mind. Looking over my
father's books one day, I came upon Gregory's 'Handbook of Inorganic
Chemistry,' and began reading it. I was fascinated with the book, and
studied it morning, noon, and night--in fact, every time when I could
snatch a few minutes. I really believe that at one time I could have
repeated the whole of the book from memory. Now I found the value of
arithmetic, and set to work in earnest on proportion, vulgar and
decimal fractions, and, in fact, everything in school work that I could
turn to account in the science of chemistry. The result of this sudden