2 6o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



in astronomy ; physics was less cared for, and chemistry had been 

 " scarcely mentioned." Mr. Silliman was considering a proposition to 

 settle down at the practice of the law in Georgia, when in July, 1801, 

 President Dwight informed him that the corporation of the college 

 had several years before resolved to establish a professorship of chem- 

 istry and natural history as soon as the funds would admit of it. The 

 time had come when the resolution could be carried into effect, but it 

 was impossible to find in this country a man properly qualified to dis- 

 charge the duties of the office, while there were reasons that made the 

 appointment of a foreigner inexpedient. The president saw no way 

 but to select a suitable young man at home, and give him time to qual- 

 ify himself for the professorship ; and he had fixed upon Mr. Silliman 

 as the person whom he would propose to the corporation. Mr. Silli- 

 man was inclined from the first to consider the offer favorably, because, 

 as he has recorded in his " Reminiscences," " the study of Nature ap- 

 peared very attractive. In her works there is no falsehood, although 

 there are mysteries to unveil, which is a very interesting achievement. 

 Everything in Nature is straightforward and consistent. There are 

 no polluting influences ; all the associations with these pursuits are 

 elevated and virtuous, and point toward the infinite Creator." The 

 professorship was instituted in 1802, with a provision that such time as 

 might be agreed upon should be given the professor-elect to decide 

 whether he would accept the appointment, and Mr. Silliman was chosen 

 professor. Philadelphia then " presented more advantages in science 

 than any other place in the country," and he went there first. Here 

 he enjoyed the instruction, with experiments, of Dr. James Wood- 

 house, of the Medical College, and had as a fellow-boarder Robert 

 Hare, who had just perfected his oxyhydrogen blow-pipe, and was 

 much occupied with the subject, and enlisted his new friend in his ser- 

 vice. He also attended the lectures of Dr. Barton on botany and of Dr. 

 Caspar Wistar on anatomy and surgery, and met Dr. Priestley at the 

 house of the latter. He received valuable suggestions from Dr. Mac- 

 lean, of Princeton, whom he visited in his transits to and from Phila- 

 delphia ; and thus he learned to regard the eminent professor as his 

 earliest master in chemistry, and Princeton as his first starting-point 

 in that pursuit, although he had not an opportunity to attend any lec- 

 tures there. Having attended two winters in Philadelphia, he returned 

 to New Haven and began to write his lectures. His first lecture was 

 delivered April 4, 1804, when he was twenty-four and a half years old, 

 to a class which included, among other men who afterward became 

 distinguished, John C. Calhoun, Bishop Gadsden, and John Pierpont ; 

 the subject was the history and progress, nature and objects, of chem- 

 istry. Four lectures were given in a week sixty in the course and 

 some notices of mineralogy were included. 



In the mean time, the corporation of the college had voted to spend 

 ten thousand dollars in Europe during the ensuing year, in the purchase 



