THE YOUNG PROFESSOR 133 



he saw Mrs. Barrett in the part of Julia in "The Hunch- 

 back," played at the Boston Museum, and examined the 

 collection of natural history and historical objects, which 

 old Bostonians remember as forming one of the features 

 of the theatre. His attention is attracted by the recessed 

 front door steps and the "swell fronts" of the Boston 

 houses, so different from the buildings in Philadelphia. 

 The concerts at the Chickering piano rooms, where one 

 of his old classmates, Edward L. Walker, of Carlisle, 

 was creating quite a furor by his music, were several 

 times visited. 



He found Dr. Brewer's great collection of birds' 

 eggs most interesting. He called on Dr. Oliver Wendell 

 Holmes and accepted a parcel to be taken to Dr. Morton 

 in Philadelphia. He visited Dr. Siedhoff, a friend of 

 the ornithologist Brehm, at Newton Centre; and went to 

 the Botanical Garden in Cambridge to call on Asa Gray. 6 

 He visited the Boston Society of Natural History and 

 Dr. A. A. Gould to consult books and the State House 

 to get a set of the Massachusetts Reports. 



It seems almost incredible that he should be able in a 

 few days to do all these things and complete his references, 

 but it is all set down in his diary. 



Having had nine days in Boston and vicinity he notes 

 in his diary: "My visit to Boston has been a very 

 delightful one. Found every body, without exception, 

 kind, polite, and attentive. Made many valuable ac- 

 quaintances. Consulted many books not accessible 

 elsewhere. There are many things in Boston which strike 



6 Asa Gray, born Nov. 18, 1810, in Oneida Co., New York, 

 married May 4, 1848, Jane Lathrop Loring of Boston; died at Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., Jan. 30, 1888. Professor of Botany at Harvard 

 University and the most eminent American botanist. 



