[7] 166:3 infusion. The act of pouring in.

[8] 167:1 Albertus Magnus. A famous scholastic philosopher and member
of the Dominican order (1193-1280).

[9] 167:1 Cornelius Agrippa. A German philosopher and student of
alchemy and magic (1486-1535).

[10] 167:1 Paracelsus. A German-Swiss physician, and alchemist
(1492-1541).

[11] 167:10 Royal Society. An association for the advancement of
science, founded in London a little before 1660.


BIOGRAPHY

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts, July 4, 1804.
His ancestors were prominent in the affairs of the colony: John
Hawthorne was one of the judges who tried the witches in 1620; and
another John Hawthorne was a member of the dignified school committee
of Salem in 1796. Hawthorne's father, a ship captain, died in a
foreign land when his son was only four years old; his mother lived
for forty years after the death of her husband the life of a recluse
in her own house. The family's star was in the decline and the people
of Salem looked on Nathaniel as a lazy and very queer boy. He grew up
in a unique solitude. During these years of seclusion Hawthorne
acquired the habit of keeping silent on all occasions, and reading a
few books frequently and thoroughly. The _Newgate Calendar_ must have