THE STORY OF ARTIFICIAL SILK 
made a scanty living. They were very 
pOOT. 
When young John was nine, his father died. 
John went to work as a bobbin-boy. He 
never had any schooling, although he eventu- 
ally became one of the most learned men in 
Great Britain. 
He was fond of reading, and he found 
several good friends among his fellow-workers, 
who gave him lessons in the evening. 
When he was 16, he was struck with the 
beautiful orange colour of a dress worn by 
his little step-sister. At once, he resolved to 
be a dyer. He spent all his spare money, 
which was not much, for dyes. Soon after- 
wards, he became an apprentice in a dye- 
shop. 
At 23, he married Mary Wostenholme. 
On his way to buy a wedding licence, he 
stopped at an old bookstall and bought a 
book that shaped his career—" THE CHEMICAL 
PockET-Booxk,” by James Parkinson. 
This old and forgotten book was published 
in 1803. It set Mercer on fire to try new 
experiments in producing beautiful colours. 
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