THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 129 



religious. But as the contemplation of any great work of art gene- 

 rally excites in us a two-fold admiration — admiration of the work 

 itself, and of the genius of its author— so a true perception of the 

 wonders of nature includes a certain worship of the aiithor of those 

 wonders. Yet we may study natural ohjects, and admire them, and 

 devote our whole life to elucidate their structure ; and after all may 

 fail to recognise the being of Him who has fashioned them. Such 

 blindness is scarcely conceivable to some minds ; yet to others, the 

 opposite appears but the eifect of a warm imagination. So inexpli- 

 cable is the human mind ! The moral evidence which stirs one man 

 to his centre brings no conviction to another. Physical truths, indeed, 

 cannot be rationally denied ; but there is no metaphysical truth which 

 may not be plausibly obscured or explained away by self-satisfied pre- 

 judice. Hence the inconclusiveness of all reasoning against infidelity. 

 The failure is not in the reasons set before the mind, but in the non- 

 acknowledgment of the imperative force of moral _ reasons. _ No man 

 can be convinced of any moral truth against his will ; and if the will 

 be corrupt, it is possessed by a blind and deaf spirit, which none can 

 cast out until a "stronger than he" shall come. 



Here I pause ; but I cannot conclude this lecture without express- 

 ing my warm thanks to the kind friends who have aided me in my 

 researches, both with specimens and with sympathy. To some of 

 them I am personally unknown, and with others I became acquainted 

 casually, during my recent tour along the shores of the United States. 

 From all I have received unmixed kindness, and every aid that it was 

 in their power to render. Indebted to all, therefore, I am more espe- 

 cially boimd by gratitude to my friend, Professor J. W. Bailey, of 

 West Point, the earliest American worker in the field of Algology. 

 Well known in his own peculiar branch of science, he has found a 

 relaxation from more wearing thought, in exploring the microscopic 

 world, and his various papers on what may be called "vegetable 

 atoms" {Diatomaceai) are widely known and highly appreciated. 

 From him I received the first specimens of United States Algaj which 

 I possessed, and, though residing at a distance from the coast, he has 

 been of essential service in infusing a taste for this peculiar depart- 

 ment of botany among persons favorably situated tor research ; so 

 that either from him or through him I have obtained specimens from 

 many localities from which I should otherwise have been shut out. 

 To him I am indebted for an introduction to a knot of Algologists 

 who have zealously explored the southwestern portions of Long Isl- 

 and and New York Sounds, ]\Iessrs. Hooper, Congdon, Pike, and 

 Walters of Brooklyn, from all of whom I have received liberal sup- 

 plies of specimens ; and through him Professor Lewis K. Gibbes, of 

 Charleston, whose personal acquaintance I had afterwards the happi- 

 ness of making, first communicated to me the result of his explora- 

 tions of Charleston harbor, as well as the first collection of Florida 

 Algaa v/hich I received, and which Dr. Gibbes obtained from their 

 collector, the late Dr. Wurdemann. Through Professor Asa Gray, 

 of Cambridge, Mass., long before it was my good fortune to know him 

 personally and intimately, I received collections of the Alg^ of Boston 

 •harbor, made by Mr. G. B. Emerson, Miss Morris, and Miss Loring, 

 9 



