156 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



look over our collections a little, before leaving Neufchatel, 

 so as to be well prepared to compare our European fauna 

 and the fossils of our region with those of America. I shall 

 still continue this same work in Paris and London for some 

 weeks, so that I do not expect to arrive in the United 

 States before the month of February or March. In the 

 mean time I will send to you a package containing all that 

 I have published since I had the honor of sending you my 

 last publications. 



After having finished these numerous works in the study, 

 I have truly need to replenish myself anew in the fields, 

 and I hope to reap a rich harvest in your country. I know 

 not how to thank you enough, my dear sir, for all the in 

 formation you have taken the trouble to send me ; it has 

 already been of great use to me in preparing myself for 

 such a journey, and will still serve me as a guide on my 

 arrival in your country, where I have no relations nor ac 

 quaintance among men of science, and only a few coun 

 trymen engaged in business, whom I know for the most 

 part only by name. You are the only person in the United 

 States with whom I maintain a correspondence. I wrote 

 once to Mr. Haldeman, and once to Mr. Gould, without 

 receiving any reply from the latter. So that really without 

 your directions I should be extremely embarrassed on my 

 arrival, for though I know the names of quite a number of 

 your savans whose papers I have read, I am ignorant of 

 their residence. I will follow your advice in regard to the 

 collections which I shall bring with me. The duplicates 

 which I hold as exchanges will remain for the most part in 

 the hands of a friend, who will forward them as fast as I 

 need them. All that you say to me of American naturalists 

 and of their kindness, enchants me, and the time spent 

 in America will surely be to me one of the happiest and 

 most instructive epochs of my life. While anticipating the 

 pleasure of taking you by the hand, permit me, my dear sir, 

 to reiterate my thanks, and the assurance of my entire 



