Fortunately, one of the canons of the Cathedral of Como, a former fellow-student of his and a man of considerable means, was also interested in the natural sciences, and obtained the books and instruments necessary to enable Volta and himself to continue their studies. Father Gattoni seems to have realized at once the possibilities for great advances in science that lay in Volta's wonderful powers of observation, and encouraged him in every way. As a consequence, some of the important experiments that laid the foundation of the modern science of electricity and proved the beginning of Volta's world-wide reputation were carried on in Gattoni's rooms. As a young man, Volta was so completely devoted to scientific investigations that there could be no doubt of the bent of his genius for original work of a high order. His power of concentration of attention on a subject was supreme. Biographers emphasize that there was no time, much less inclination, for the levities that so often appeal to the growing youth. He was almost too staid and preoccupied with his work for his own health and the comfort of his friends. When he became interested in a series of experiments, he often forgot the flight of time, and was known to miss meals, and inadvertently to put off going to bed--apparently quite unconscious of his physical necessities. This intense concentration of mind had its disadvantages. One of his friends complained playfully that he made a rather disagreeable traveling companion on account of his tendency to become abstracted; and on occasions this friend was deeply mortified to see Volta, when in company, take out a pocket-handkerchief that had been used for some purpose in the laboratory--which showed unmistakable signs of its previous employment as a cleansing agent for dirty instruments or hands, though its possessor was evidently unconscious of its appearance. More than once, too, his handkerchief proved, when taken out for its natural uses, to be as preoccupied as its owner: specimens of rocks or natural curiosities that he had gathered and inadvertently allowed to remain in his pocket came with it.