ail, and make my fingers so sore that I cannot use
them easily.' In another experiment 'the tube and receiver were blown
to pieces, I got a cut on the head, and Sir Humphry a bruise on his
hand.' And again speaking of the same substance, he says, 'when put in
the pump and exhausted, it stood for a moment, and then exploded with
a fearful noise. Both Sir H. and I had masks on, but I escaped this
time the best. Sir H. had his face cut in two places about the chin,
and a violent blow on the forehead struck through a considerable
thickness of silk and leather.' It was this same substance that blew
out the eye of Dulong.

Over and over again, even at this early date, we can discern the
quality which, compounded with his rare intellectual power, made
Faraday a great experimental philosopher. This was his desire to see
facts, and not to rest contented with the descriptions of them. He
frequently pits the eye against the ear, and affirms the enormous
superiority of the organ of vision. Late in life I have heard him say
that he could never fully understand an experiment until he had seen
it. But he did not confine himself to experiment. He aspired to be a
teacher, and reflected and wrote upon the method of scientific
exposition. 'A lecturer,' he observes, 'should appear easy and
collected, undaunted and unconcerned:' still 'his whole behaviour
should evince respect for his audience.' These recommendations were
afterwards in great part embodied by himself. I doubt his
'unconcern,' but his fearlessness was often manifested. It used to
rise within him as a wave, which carried both him and his audience
along with it. On rare occasions also, when he felt himself and his
subject hopelessly unintelligible, he suddenly evoked a certain
recklessness of thought, and, without halting to extricate his
bewildered followers, he would dash alone through the jungle into
which he had unwittingly led them; thus saving them from ennui by the
exhibition of a vigour which, for the time being, they could neither
share nor comprehend.

In October 1813 he quitted England with Sir Humphry and Lady Davy.
During his absence he kept a journal, from which copious and
interesting extracts have been made by Dr. Bence Jones. Davy was
considerate, preferring at times to be his own servant rather than
impose on Faraday duties which he disliked. But Lady Davy was the
reverse. She treated him as an underling; he chafed under the
treatment, and wa