Whenever this occurred, the old man grew fidgety, moved the slice of bread backwards and forwards as if the fire were at fault, and when, at length, the English lady had fairly conquered the ground, and was started on a long sentence, he could bear the eclipse of his idol no longer, but, coming to the sofa where we sat, he testily said, 'Mrs.
Somerville would rather talk on science than on art.' "Mrs.Somerville's conversation was marked by great simplicity; it was rather of the familiar and chatty order, with no tendency to the essay style.

She touched upon the recent discoveries in chemistry or the discovery of gold in California, of the nebulae, more and more of which she thought might be resolved, and yet that there might exist nebulous matters, such as compose the tails of comets, of the satellites, of the planets, the last of which she thought had other uses than as subordinates.

She spoke with disapprobation of Dr.Whewell's attempt to prove that our planet was the only one inhabited by reasoning beings; she believed that a higher order of beings than ourselves might people them.
"On subsequent visits there were many questions from Mrs.Somerville in regard to the progress of science in America.

She regretted, she said, that she knew so little of what was done in our country.
"From Lieutenant Maury, alone, she received scientific papers.

She spoke of the late Dr.( Nathaniel) Bowditch with great interest, and said she had corresponded with one of his sons.