Page:Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's life.djvu/107

 taste. when he was orderd into the field to tend on the herds, & flocks; sitting under a hedg with a book in his hand, or busying himself with his knife, in models & inventions in wood work, he little regarded the business of the cattle. at other times, he would get to a spring head, or running stream, which this charming country abounds with; There he made little wheels, such as they use in water mills, some overshot, as they call 'em, some undershot, with proper dams, sluices, & the whole apparatus belonging to those engines. together with many other hydrostatic experiments. at those he sat gazing in serious contemplation, while the sheep, & the cows under his care, were strayd into the inclosures, & cornfields: which occasiond great outcry, & damage, to be repaid by his mother nor would he so much as remember dinner time: philosophy absorbed all his thoughts.

how often has he sat upon a bank admiring the beautiful pasque flower, growing plentifully in the spring, upon the fine heaths hereabouts. Being a rare plant one year whilst I lived at Stamford, coming up to Town after Easter, I took up a number of these roots, each with a square bit of the turf round 'em, the flowers just opening.