III.] ORIGIN OF TASTE FOR SCIENCE. 171
vances, physics, and chemistry. I earnestly desired to be an engineer, but the fact that I had a . . . . [near relative] a medical man, led to my being apprenticed to him, and I took to physiology and anatomy, as the engineering side of my profession. [The inclinations above mentioned were] altogether innate, and, so far as I know, not hereditary ; neither of my parents nor any of the family showing any trace of the like tendencies. My appointment to the surveying ship . .. . made me a comparative anatomist, by affording opportunities for the investigation of the structure of the lower animals. My appointment to .. . forced me to palaeontology." (a, c, d, h)
(14) "My school nickname was ` Archimedes ;' I was always fond of construction. If I had followed my own bent, I should probably have been [successful as] an engineer. My turn for scientific inquiry led me in early life to systematise and generalise the knowledge of others. Latterly I have felt more interest in original investigations." (a, c)
