ook
there, Tyndall, that was my working-place. I bound books in that
little nook.' A respectable-looking woman stood behind the counter: his
conversation with me was too low to be heard by her, and he now turned
to the counter to buy some cards as an excuse for our being there. He
asked the woman her name--her predecessor's name--his predecessor's
name. 'That won't do,' he said, with good-humoured impatience; 'who was
his predecessor?' 'Mr. Riebau,' she replied, and immediately added,
as if suddenly recollecting herself, 'He, sir, was the master of Sir
Charles Faraday.' 'Nonsense!' he responded, 'there is no such person.'
Great was her delight when I told her the name of her visitor; but
she assured me that as soon as she saw him running about the shop, she
felt-though she did not know why--that it must be 'Sir Charles Faraday.'

Faraday did, as you know, accompany Davy to Rome: he was re-engaged
by the managers of the Royal Institution on May 15, 1815. Here he made
rapid progress in chemistry, and after a time was entrusted with easy
analyses by Davy. In those days the Royal Institution published 'The
Quarterly Journal of Science,' the precursor of our own 'Proceedings.'
Faraday's first contribution to science appeared in that journal in
1816. It was an analysis of some caustic lime from Tuscany, which had
been sent to Davy by the Duchess of Montrose. Between this period and
1818 various notes and short papers were published by Faraday. In 1818
he experimented upon 'Sounding Flames.' Professor Auguste De la Rive
had investigated those sounding flames, and had applied to them an
explanation which completely accounted for a class of sounds discovered
by himself, but did not account for those known to his predecessors. By
a few simple and conclusive experiments, Faraday proved the explanation
insufficient. It is an epoch in the life of a young man when he finds
himself correcting a person of eminence, and in Faraday's case, where
its effect was to develop a modest self-trust, such an event could not
fail to act profitably.

From time to time between 1818 and 1820 Faraday published scientific
notes and notices of minor weight. At this time he was acquiring, not
producing; working hard for his master and storing and strengthening
his own mind. He assisted Mr. Brande in his lectures, and so quietly,
skilfully, and modestly was his work done, that Mr. Brande's vocation at
the time was pronounced 'lecturing on velvet.' In 182