Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 12.djvu/146

134 the earliest and most interesting biographies of Watt, relates anecdotes of him which, if correct, illustrate well the thoughtfulness and the intelligence, as well as the mechanical bent, of the boy's mind.

He is said, at the age of six years, to have occupied himself during leisure hours with the solution of geometrical problems, and Arago discovers in a story, in which he is described as experimenting with the tea-kettle, his earliest investigations of the nature and properties of steam.

When finally sent to the village-school, his ill-health prevented his making rapid progress, and it was only when more than fourteen years of age that he began to show that he was capable of taking the lead in his class, and to exhibit his ability in the study particularly of mathematics. His spare time was principally spent in sketching with his pencil, in carving, and in working at the bench, both in wood and metal. His favorite work seemed to be the repairing of nautical instruments.

In boyhood, as in after-life, he was a diligent reader, and he seemed to find something to interest him in every book that came into his hands.

At the age of eighteen Watt was sent to Glasgow, there to reside with his mother's relatives, and to learn the trade of a mathematical instrument maker. The mechanic with whom he was placed was soon found too indolent, or was otherwise incapable of giving much aid in the project; and Dr. Dick, of the University of Glasgow, with whom Watt became acquainted, advised him to go to London.

Accordingly, he set out in June, 1755, for the metropolis, where, on his arrival, he arranged with Mr. John Morgan, in Cornhill, to work for a year at his chosen business, receiving as compensation twenty guineas. At the end of the year he was compelled by serious ill-health to return home.

30. Having become restored to health, he went again to Glasgow, in 1756, with the intention of pursuing his calling there. But not being the son of a burgess, and not having served his apprenticeship in the town, he was forbidden by the guilds, or trades-unions, to open a shop in Glasgow. Dr. Dick came to his aid, and employed him to repair some apparatus which had been bequeathed to the college; and he was finally allowed the use of three rooms in the university-building, its authorities not being under the municipal rule.

He remained here until 1760, when, the trades no longer objecting, he took a shop in the city, and in 1761 moved again into a shop on the north side of the Trongate, where he earned a scanty living without molestation, still keeping up his connection with the college.

He spent much of his leisure time, of which he had more than was desirable, in making philosophical experiments, and in the