Among other books, he was
delighted with Plutarch's LIVES, and at thirteen he composed a biography
of Demosthenes, long preserved by his family. A year later he entered
Yale College as a freshman.
During his curriculum he attended the lectures of Professor Jeremiah
Day on natural philosophy and Professor Benjamin Sieliman on chemistry,
and it was then he imbibed his earliest knowledge of electricity. In
1809-10 Dr. Day was teaching from Enfield's text-book on philosophy,
that 'if the (electric) circuit be interrupted, the fluid will become
visible, and when: it passes it will leave an impression upon any
intermediate body,' and he illustrated this by sending the spark through
a metal chain, so that it became visible between the links, and by
causing it to perforate paper. Morse afterwards declared this experiment
to have been the seed which rooted in his mind and grew into the
'invention of the telegraph.'
It is not evident that Morse had any distinct idea of the electric
telegraph in these days; but amidst his lessons in literature and
philosophy he took a special interest in the sciences of electricity and
chemistry. He became acquainted with the voltaic battery through the
lectures of his friend, Professor Sieliman; and we are told that during
one of his vacations at Yale he made a series of electrical experiments
with Dr.
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