274 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



this parent to be known to his own children. And 

 letter-writing to numerous relatives and friends did 

 not cease to be a considerable draught upon his 

 time. 



With the condition of the departments of knowl 

 edge in Yale College, which began with him, he had 

 every reason to be gratified. Among the pleasing 

 occurrences in the latter years of his life, was the 

 liberal endowment of the Scientific School, in the 

 origin and progress of which he had been intimately 

 concerned. 



Previously to 1842, there had been no means pro 

 vided for the instruction of advanced students in the 

 physical sciences, either at Yale College or at any 

 of the other Institutions in the United States. Up to 

 that time the academical students had been instructed 

 in chemistry almost exclusively by lectures. Pro 

 fessor Silliman had been long in the habit of receiv 

 ing into his laboratory a very limited number of per 

 sons who were fitting themselves to become teachers 

 of the departments of science under his care. This 

 number rarely exceeded two or three persons at one 

 time. There were no recitations ; the art of manipu 

 lation, the management of chemical processes, and 

 the preparation of class-room experiments, were the 

 chief subjects of attention. Among these gentlemen 

 were many who subsequently became eminent in 

 these departments. In 1842, Mr. Silliman, Jr., being 

 then professional assistant to his father, made arrange 

 ments to teach a few special students in chemical 

 analysis and mineralogy. For this purpose a small 

 analytical laboratory was fitted up in the old College 

 Laboratory, and the business of daily instruction in 





