Francis Bacon, philosopher, statesman, father of the scientific method, was riding in a coach with the King's physician when, according to John Aubrey's story, a thought struck him: could snow keep meat from rotting, as salt does? They stopped at a poor woman's cottage at the bottom of Highgate Hill, bought a hen, and Bacon stuffed it with snow with his own hands. He caught a chill, was taken to the Earl of Arundel's house nearby, and died a few days later, possibly of pneumonia. The story may be partly legend. We stop at the experiment. The words are imagined.