152 ENGLISH MEN OF SCIENCE. [CHAT.
not from any natural preference for . . . . over the other departments of physical science." (a, c)
(6) " My tastes were partly natural, partly encouraged by an eminent friend who had been honoured himself by the friendship of most of the leading men of science in the early part of this century." (a, f )
(7) [Yes.] "I remember [incidents which proved an innate taste quoted at length] before I could write, [but] I believe the origin of my pursuit of physical science was when I attended the natural philosophy class at . . . . I was intended for business, but conceiving a distaste for it, I left it and attached myself to science." (a, g)
(8) " I cannot say, except that I had an innate wish for miscellaneous information. My interest in science arose from the chance circumstance of my choosing civil engineering as a profession, and having spare time, when studying at . . . , which I devoted to . . . . My scientific tastes were subsequently determined by my not
