“I exhibit with a microscope that I wouldn’t take fifty guineas for,
because it suits my purpose, and it is of the finest quality. I earn
my living with it. If I were to sell it, it wouldn’t fetch more than
15_l._ It was presented to me by my dear sister, who went to America
and died there. I’ll show you that it is a valuable instrument. I’ll
tell you that one of the best lens-makers in the trade looked through
it, and so he said, ‘I think I can improve it for you;’ and he made me
a present of a lens, of extreme high power, and the largest aperture
of magnifying power that has ever been exhibited. I didn’t know him at
the time. He did it by kindness. He said, after looking through, ‘It’s
very good for what it professes, but I’ll make you a present of a lens
made out of the best Swiss metal.’ And he did so from the interest he
felt in seeing such kinds of exhibitions in the streets. With the glass
he gave me I can see cheese-mites as distinctly as possible, with their
eight legs and transparent bodies, and heads shaped like a hedgehog’s.
I see their jaw moving as they eat their food, and can see them lay
their eggs, which are as perfect as any fowl’s, but of a bright blue
colour; and I can also see them perform the duties of nature. I can
also see them carry their young on their backs, showing that they have
affection for their offspring. They lay their eggs through their ribs,
and you can tell when they are going to lay for there is a bulging
out just by the hips. They don’t sit on their eggs, but they roll
them about in action till they bring forth their object. A million of
these mites can walk across a flea’s back, for by Lardner’s micrometer
the surface of a flea’s back measures 24 inches from the proboscis to
the posterior. The micrometer is an instrument used for determining
microscopic power, and it is all graduated to a scale. By Lardner’s
micrometer the mite looks about the size of a large black-beetle, and
then it is magnified 100,000 times. This will give you some idea of the
power and value of my instrument. Three hundred gentlemen have viewed
through it in one week, and each one delighted; so much so, that many
have given double the money I have asked (which was a penny), such was
the satisfaction my instrument gave.
“My father was a minister and local preacher in the Wesleyan
Methodists. He died, poor fellow, at 27 years of age, therefore I never
had an opportunity of knowing him. He was a boot and shoe maker. Such
was the talent which he possessed, that, had it not been for his being
lamed of one foot (from a fall off a horse), he would have been made a
travelling minister. He was a wonderful clever man, and begun preaching
when he was 21. He was the minister who preached on the occasion of
laying the foundation-stone of Hoxton Chapel, and he drew thousands of
people. I was only two years old when he died, and my mother was left
with five of us to bring up. She was a visitor of the sick and the
dying for the Strangers’ Benevolent Fund, and much respected for her
labours. After my father’s death she was enabled to support her family
of one son and four daughters by shoe-binding. She was married twice
after my father’s death, but she married persons of quite opposite
principles and opinions to her own, and she was not comfortable with
them, but left them, and always found shelter under her son’s roof,
where she died triumphantly happy.
“I was apprenticed when I was 13 years of age to a shoemaker, who was
a profound philosopher, and very fond of making experiments and of
lecturing on various branches of science. I could produce bills--I
have them at home--such as that at the Friar’s-mount Sunday-school,
some six or seven years ago, where it states that William Knock,
minister and lecturer, will lecture on zoology and natural history.
He’s about 70 now. Electricity is his favourite science. Whilst I was
his apprentice, he had an observatory built at the top of his house in
Underwood-street, Spitalfields, for the purpose of taking astronomical
observations. My being in his house, and seeing him so busy with his
instruments, gave me a great taste for science. I was his assistant
when he went lecturing. I was apprenticed with him for five years. He
was a kind and good master, and very affectionate. He encouraged me in
my scientific studies, and gave me access to his library, which was
immense, and consisted of 3000 volumes. Amongst other employment I
used to copy out sermons for him, and he gave me a penny each, which
by saving up enabled me to buy a watch of him for 5_l._ 5_s._ He was a
shoemaker and manufacturer of ladies and children’s boots and shoes, so
that he might have made from his 2_l._ to 3_l._ a-week, for he was not
a journeyman, but an employer.
“After I was out of my time I went to Mr. Children, a bootmaker of
Bethnal-green-road, well known in that locality. My master had not
sufficient employment for me. One night this Mr. Children went to hear
a lecture on astronomy by Dr. Bird, and when he came home he was so
delighted with what he had seen, that he began telling his wife all
about it. He said, ‘I cannot better explain to you the solar system,
than with a mop,’ and he took the mop and dipped it into a pail of
water, and began to twirl it round in the air, till the wet flew
off it. Then he said, ‘This mop is the sun, and the spiral motion
of the water gives the revolutions of the planets in their orbits.’
Then, after a time, he cried out, ‘If this Dr. Bird can do this, why
shouldn’t I?’ He threw over his business directly, to carry out the
grand object of his mind. He was making from 3_l._ to 4_l._ a-week, and
his wife said, ‘Robert, you’re mad!’ He asked me if I knew anything
of astronomy, and I said, ‘Sir, my old master was an astronomer and
philosopher.’ Then I got books for him, and I taught him all I knew of
the science of astronomy. Then he got a magic-lantern with astronomical
slides. The bull’s-eye was six inches in diameter, so they were very
large, so that they gave a figure of twelve feet. For the signs of the
zodiac he had twelve separate small lanterns, with the large one in the
centre to show the diverging rays of the sun’s light. He began with
many difficulties in his way, for he was a very illiterate man, and had
a vast deal to contend with, but he succeeded through all. He wrote to
his father and got 500_l._, which was his share of the property which
would have been left him on his parent’s death. At his first lecture he
made many mistakes, such as, ‘Now, gentlemen, I shall present to your
notice the _consternations_,’ at which expression the company cried,
‘Hear, hear,’ and one said, ‘We are all in a consternation here, for
your lamp wants oil.’ Yet he faced all this out. I was his assistant. I
taught him everything. When I told him of his mistake he’d say, ‘Never
mind, I’ll overcome all that.’ He accumulated the vast sum of 6000_l._
by lecturing, and became a most popular man. He educated himself, and
became qualified. When he went into the country, he had Archbishops
and Bishops, and the highest of the clergy, to give their sanction and
become patrons of his lectures. He’s now in America, and become a great
farmer.
“After I left Mr. Children, I connected myself with a Young Men’s
Improvement Meeting. Previous to that, I had founded a Sunday-school
in the New Kent-road. Deverell-street Sabbath-schools were founded by
me, and I was for fourteen years manager of it, as well as performer
of the funeral service in that place; for there was a chapel, and
burying-ground and vaults, attached to the schools, and I became the
officiating minister for the funeral service. Three thousand children
have been educated at these schools, and for fourteen years I lectured
to them every Sunday on religious subjects. With the tutors and the
eldest scholars I formed a Young Men’s Improvement Meeting. I became
the president of that meeting, and their lecturer. I lectured on the
following subjects,--Natural History, Electricity, Astronomy, and
Phrenology.
“At this time I was a master-shoemaker, and doing a business of fifty
guineas a-week, of which ten were profit. I built large workshops at
the back of my house, which cost me 300_l._ Unfortunately, I lent my
name to a friend for a very large amount, and became involved in his
difficulties, and then necessity compelled me to have recourse to
street-exhibitions for a living. When I was in affluent circumstances
I had a library of 300 volumes, on scientific subjects mostly, and
from them I have gleaned sufficient information to qualify me for
street-exhibition, and thereby enable me to earn more money than most
individuals in such circumstances.
“I began my street-life with exhibiting a telescope, and here is
the origin of my doing so. I had a sister living at the west-end of
the town who was a professed cook, and I used to visit her three
times a-week. One night I saw a man in the Regent-circus exhibiting
a telescope. I went up to him, and I said, ‘Sir, what is the object
to-night?’ And he told me it was Jupiter. I was very much interested
with looking at Jupiter, and I stopped with that man for two hours,
conversing with him, and I saw exactly how much he took. Then I
thought, ‘Why shouldn’t I do this?’ So I wrote to my brother-in-law,
and I told him this man was taking at the rate of 1_d._ per minute, and
I offered, if he would provide me with a telescope, that I should be
very happy and contented to take half of the receipts as my share, and
give him the other for the use of his instrument. He did so, and bought
a telescope which cost him 14_l._ I took up my stand on London-bridge,
and did very well, taking on the average 6_s._ a-night. I gave up the
telescope for this reason,--my brother-in-law was going to America,
and was anxious to call in all his money. The telescope was sold, and
my sister, the professed cook, fearing that I should be left without a
means of living, bought for me a microscope out of her own earnings,
which cost her 5_l._ She said to me, ‘The microscope is better than the
telescope, for the nights are so uncertain.’ She was quite right, for
when the telescopes have been idle for three months at a time, I can
exhibit my microscope day and night. She gave it to me as a mark of her
respect. She died in America, just after she arrived. That instrument
has enabled me to support an afflicted and aged mother, and to bury her
comfortably when she died.
“My microscope contains six objects, which are placed on a wheel at the
back, which I turn round in succession. The objects are in cell-boxes
of glass. The objects are all of them familiar to the public, and
are as follows:--1. The flea. 2. The human hair, or the hair of the
head. 3. A section of the old oak tree. 4. The animalculæ in water.
5. Cheese-mites. And 6. The transverse section of cane used by
schoolmasters for the correction of boys.
“I always take up my stand in the day-time in Whitechapel, facing the
London Hospital, being a large open space, and favourable for the solar
rays--for I light up the instrument by the direct rays of the sun. At
night-time I am mostly to be found on Westminster-bridge, and then I
light up with the best sperm oil there is. I am never interfered with
by the police; on the contrary, they come and have a look, and admire
and recommend, such is the interest excited.
“The first I exhibit is the flea, and I commence a short lecture as
follows:--‘Gentlemen,’ I says, ‘the first object I have to present
to your notice is that of a flea. I wish to direct your attention
especially to the head of this object. Here you may distinctly perceive
its proboscis or dart. It is that which perforates the cuticle or human
skin, after which the blood ascends by suction from our body into that
of the flea. Thousands of persons in London have seen a flea, have felt
a flea, but have never yet been able by the human eye to discover that
instrument which made them sensible of the flea about their person,
although they could not catch the old gentleman. This flea, gentlemen,
by Dr. Lardner’s micrometer, measures accurate 24 inches in length, and
11 across the back. My instrument, mark you, being of high magnifying
power, will not show you the whole of the object at once. Mark you,
gentlemen, this is not the flea of the dog or the cat, but the human
flea, for each differ in their formation, as clearly proved by this
powerful instrument. For they all differ in their form and shape, and
will only feed upon the animal on which they are bred. Having shown you
the head and shoulders, with its dart, I shall now proceed to show you
the posterior view of this object, in which you may clearly discover
every artery, vein, muscle and nerve, exact like a lobster in shape,
and quite as large as one at 2_s._ 6_d._’ That pleases them, you know;
and sometimes I add, to amuse them, ‘An object of that size would make
an excellent supper for half-a-dozen persons.’ That pleases them.
“One Irishwoman, after seeing the flea, threw up her arms and screamed
out, ‘O J----! and I’ve had hundreds of them in my bed at once.’ She
got me a great many customers from her exclamations. You see, my
lecture entices those listening to have a look. Many listeners say,
‘Ain’t that true, and philosophical, and correct?’ I’ve had many give
me 6_d._ and say, ‘Never mind the change, your lecture is alone worth
the money.’
“I’ll now proceed to No. 2. ‘The next object I have to present to your
notice, gentlemen, is that of the hair of the human head. You perceive
that it is nearly as large as yonder scaffolding poles of the House of
Lords.’ I say this when I am on Westminster-bridge, because it refers
to the locality, and is a striking figure, and excites the listeners.
‘But mark you, it is not, like them, solid matter, through which no
ray of light can pass.’ That’s where I please the gentlemen, you know,
for they say, ‘How philosophical!’ ‘You can readily perceive, mark
you, that they are all tubes, like tubes of glass; a proof of which
fact you have before you, from the light of the lamp shining direct
through the body of the object, and that light direct portrayed in the
lens of your eye, called the retina, on which all external objects are
painted.’ ‘Beautiful!’ says a gentleman. ‘Now, if the hair of the head
be a hollow tube, as you perceive it is, then what caution you ought
to exercise when you place your head in the hands of the hairdresser,
by keeping your hat on, or else you may be susceptible to catch cold;
for that which we breathe, the atmosphere, passing down these tubes,
suddenly shuts to the doors, if I may be allowed such an expression,
or, in other words, closes the pores of the skin and thereby checks the
insensible perspiration, and colds are the result. Powdering the head
is quite out of date now, but if a little was used on those occasions
referred to, cold in the head would not be so frequent.’ What do you
think of that? I never had an individual complain of my lecture yet.
“Now comes No. 3. ‘This, gentlemen, is the brave old oak, a section
of it not larger than the head of a pin. Looking at it through
this powerful instrument, you may accurately perceive millions of
perforations, or pores, through which the moisture of the earth rises,
in order to aid its growth. Of all the trees of the forest, none is so
splendid as the brave old oak. This is the tree that braves the battle
and the breeze, and is said to be in its perfection at 100 years.
Who that looks at it would not exclaim, in the language of the song,
‘Woodman, spare that tree, and cut it not down?’ Such is the analogy
existing between vegetable and animal physiology, that a small portion
of the cuticle or human skin would present the same appearance, for
there are millions of pores in the human skin which a grain of sand
is said to cover; and here are millions of perforations through which
the moisture of the earth is said to rise to aid the growth of the
tree. See the similitude between the vegetable and animal physiology.
Here is the exhibition of nature--see how it surpasses that of art.
See the ladies at the Great Exhibition admiring the shawls that came
from India: yet they, though truly deserving, could not compare with
this bit of bark from the brave old oak. Here is a pattern richer and
more deserving than any on any shawl, however wonderful. Where is the
linendraper in this locality that can produce anything so beautiful as
that on this bit of bark? Such are the works of art as compared with
those of nature.’
“No. 4 is the animalculæ in water. ‘Gentlemen, the object now before
you is a drop of water, that may be suspended on a needle’s point,
teeming with millions of living objects. This one drop of water
contains more inhabitants than the globe on which I stand. See the
velocity of their motion, the action of their stomachs! the vertebræ is
elegantly marked, like the boa-constrictor in the Zoological Gardens.
They are all moving with perfect ease in this one drop, like the mighty
monsters of the vast deep.’
“One on occasion a gentleman from St. Thomas’s Hospital disputed my
statement about it’s being only one drop of water, so I said to the
gent: ‘If you will accompany me to some coffee-house the drop of water
shall be removed, and perhaps what you see you may believe,’ which he
did, and he paid me 1_s._ for my experiment. He told me was a doctor,
and I told him I was surprised that he was not better acquainted
with the instrument; for, said I, ‘how can you tell the effects of
inoculation on the cuticle, or the disease called the itch, unless
you are acquainted with such an instrument?’ He was quite ashamed as
he paid me for my trouble. I tell this anecdote on the bridge, and I
always conclude with, ‘Now, gentlemen, whilst I was paid 1_s._ by the
faculty for showing one object alone, I am only charging you 1_d._ for
the whole six.’ Then I address myself to the person looking into the
microscope, and say, ‘What do you think of this one drop of water,
sir?’ and he says, ‘Splendid!’ Then I add, ‘Few persons would pass and
re-pass this instrument without having a glance into it, if they knew
the wonders I exhibit;’ and the one looking says, ‘That’s true, very
true.’
“The next object is the cheese-mite--No. 5. I always begin in this
way,--‘Those who are unacquainted with the study of entomology declare
that these mites are beetles, and not mites; but could I procure a
beetle with eight legs, I should present it to the British Museum as a
curiosity.’ This is the way I clench up the mouths of those sceptics
who would try to ridicule me, by showing that I am philosophic. ‘Just
look at them. Notice, for instance, their head, how it represents
the form of an hedgehog. The body presents that of the beetle shape.
They have eight legs and eight joints. They have four legs forward
and four legs back; and they can move with the same velocity forwards
as they can back, such is their construction. They are said to be
moving with the velocity of five hundred steps in one minute. Read
Blair’s ‘Preceptor,’ where you may see a drawing of the mite accurately
given, as well as read the description just given.’ A cheesemonger in
Whitechapel brought me a few of these objects for me to place in my
microscope. He invited his friends, which were taking supper with him,
to come out and have a glance at the same objects. He gave me sixpence
for exhibiting them to him, and was highly gratified at the sight of
them. I asked him how he could have the impudence to sell them for a
lady’s supper at 10_d._ a-pound. The answer he gave me was,--‘What the
eye cannot see the heart never grieves.’ Then I go on,--‘Whilst this
lady is extending her hand to the poor, and doing all the relief in her
power, she is slaying more living creatures with her jaw-bone than ever
Samson did with his.’ If it’s a boy looking through, I say, ‘Now, Jack,
when you are eating bread and cheese don’t let it be said that you slay
the mites with the jaw-bone of an ass. Cultivate the intellectual and
moral powers superior to the passions, and then you will rise superior
to that animal in intellect.’ ‘Good,’ says a gentleman, ‘good; here’s
sixpence for you;’ and another says, ‘Here’s twopence for you, and I’m
blessed if I want to see anything after hearing your lecture.’ Then I
continue to point out the affection of the mite for its young. ‘You see
fathers looking after their daughters, and mothers after their sons,
when they are taking their walks; and such is their love for their
young, that when the young ones are fatigued with their journey the
parents take them up on their backs. Do you not see it?’ And then some
will say, ‘I’ll give a penny to see that;’ and I’ve had four pennies
put in my hand at once to see it. Excitement is everything in this
world, sir.
“Next comes the cane--No. 6. ‘The object before you, gentlemen, is
a transverse section of cane,--common cane,--such, mark you, as is
used by schoolmasters for the correction of boys who neglect their
tasks, or play the wag.’ I make it comic, you know. ‘This I call the
tree of knowledge, for it has done more for to learn us the rules
of arithmetic than all the vegetable kingdom combined. To it we may
attribute the rule of three, from its influence on the mind,’--that
always causes a smile,--‘just look at it for one moment. Notice, in
the first place, its perforations. Where the human hand has failed to
construct a micrometer for microscopic or telescopic purposes, the
spider has lent its web in one case, and the cane in the other. Through
the instrumentality of its perforations, we may accurately infer the
magnifying power of other objects, showing the law of analogy. The
perforations of this cane, apart from this instrument, would hardly
admit a needle’s point, but seem now large enough for your arm to
enter. This cane somewhat represents a telescopic view of the moon at
the full, when in conjunction with the sun, for instance. Here I could
represent inverted rocks and mountains. You may perceive them yourself,
just as they would be represented in the moon’s disc through a powerful
telescope of 250 times, such as I have exhibited to a thousand persons
in St. Paul’s Churchyard. On the right of this piece of cane, if you
are acquainted with the science of astronomy, you may depicture very
accurately Mount Tycho, for instance, representing a beautiful burning
mountain, like Mount Vesuvius or Etany, near the fields of Naples.
You might discover accurately all the diverging streaks of light
emanating from the crater. Further on to the right you may perceive
Mount St. Catherine, like the blaze of a candle rushing through the
atmosphere. On the left you may discover Mount Ptolemy. Such is a
similar appearance of the moon’s mountainous aspect. I ask you, if the
school-boy had but an opportunity of glancing at so splendid an object
as the cane, should he ever be seen to shed a tear at its weight?’
“This shows that I am scientific, and know astronomy. The last part
makes them laugh.
“This is the mode in which I exhibit my instrument, and such is the
interest been excited in the public mind, that though a penny is the
small charge which I make, that amount has been doubled and trebled
by gentlemen who have viewed the instrument; and on one occasion a
clergyman in the Commercial-road presented me with half-a-sovereign,
for the interest he felt at my description, as well as the objects
presented to his view. It has given universal satisfaction.
“I don’t go out every night with my instrument. I always go on the
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday, for those are the nights when
I take most money, especially on the Monday and Saturday. The Monday
and Saturday are generally 6_s._, Tuesdays about 5_s._, and Wednesdays
about 2_s._ 6_d._ Then the Thursday averages 1_s._ 8_d._, and the
Fridays, in some localities, where the men are paid on that night, are
equal to Saturday. Such are the benefits arising from night exhibition.
In the day it comes to rather more. I’ve been to Greenwich, and on the
One-tree Hill I’ve done more with the sun light than the night light.
Taking the changes of weather, such as rain and cold bleak nights, and
such weather as isn’t suitable to such an exhibition, I may say safely
that my income amounts to 80_l._ a-year. The capital required for such
a business amounts to from 10_l._ to 20_l._ My instrument only cost
5_l._; but it was parted with to raise money;--and I wouldn’t take
50_l._ for it. It was my sister’s son-in-law who sold it. It was a
gift more than a sale. You can buy a very good microscope for 10_l._,
but a great deal, of course, is required in choosing it; for you may
buy a thing not worth 20_s._ You’d have an achromatic microscope for
20_l._ It costs me about 4_d._ a-week for oil, the best sperm, at
1_s._ 4_d._ the pint; and a quarter of a pint will last me the week.
I get my specimens in London. I prepare them all myself, and always
keep a stock by me. For the sake of any gentleman who may have any
microscope, and wish to procure excellent living specimens of mites and
animalculæ in water, may do so in this way. (This is a secret which
I give from a desire which I feel to afford pleasure to gentlemen of
a scientific mind.) Get mites from a cheesemonger. Mites differ in
their shape and form, according to the cheese they are taken from. The
Stilton-cheese differs from the Dutch-cheese mite, and so does that of
the aristocratic Cheshire, as I call it. In order to rise them clear
and transparent, take a wooden box, of 2-1/2 inches deep and 2-1/2
inches in diameter, with a thick screw-lid, and let the lid take off
half-way down. Place the dust in the bottom of the box, damp the thread
of the screw-lid, to make it air-tight. The mites will ascend to the
lid of the box. Four or five hours afterwards unscrew the lid gently,
and, removing it, let it fall gently on a piece of writing paper. The
mites crawl up to the lid, and by this way you get them free from dust
and clean. To make the animalculæ water, I draw from the bottom of the
water-tub a small quantity of water, and I put about a handful of new
hay in that water. I expose it to the influence of the solar light, or
some gentle heat, for three or four hours. Skim off its surface. After
washing your hands, take your finger and let one drop of the hay-water
fall on the glass, and then add to it another drop of pure water to
make it more transparent. This information took me some years of
experience to discover. I never read it or learnt it from any one, but
found it out myself; but all liberal scientific men like to share their
information.
“It’s impossible for me to say how many people have looked through
my instrument, but they must be counted by tens of thousands. I have
had 160 looking through in one night, or 13_s._ 4_d._ worth. This
was on a peculiar occasion. They average about 6_s._ worth. If I
could get out every night I should do well. As it is, I am obliged to
work at my trade of shoemaking to keep myself: for you must take it
into consideration, that there are some nights when I cannot show my
exhibition. Very often I have a shilling or sixpence given to me as a
present by my admirers. Many a half-crown I’ve had as well.
“One night I was showing over at the Elephant and Castle, and I saw
a Quaker gentleman coming along, and he said to me, ‘What art thee
showing to night, friend?’ So I told him; and he says, ‘And what doth
thee charge, friend?’ I answered, ‘To the working man, sir, I am
determined to charge no more than a penny; but to a gentleman, I always
leave it to their liberality.’ So he said, ‘Well, I like that, friend;
I’ll give thee all I have.’ And he put his hand into his pocket, and he
pulled out five penny pieces. You see that is what I always do; and it
meets with its reward.”