328 LIFE OF BENJAMIN SILLIMAN. 



are taken into account, the sum of his influence will 

 be seen to have been vast. " Among the pupils of 

 half a century," says Professor Caswell, " how many 

 have caught the enthusiasm of the master, and given 

 their energies to science, and placed their names high 

 on the list of its honored cultivators ! How many 

 hundreds and thousands of those who in different 

 cities have listened to "his eloquent lectures, have 

 learned to appreciate science, and gather refined 

 pleasure from its culture, and give to it their hearty 

 patronage ! How regularly and how widely has his 

 Journal carried to the reading public intelligence of 

 the latest discoveries, and the best practical applica 

 tions of science ! Considering all this, who shall say 

 that his efficient influence has not been felt in every 

 institution of learning, in every profession, nay, in 

 every workshop, and every cultivated field, in this 

 broad land of ours ! " * 



The usefulness of Professor Silliman, as a scien 

 tific man, is properly set forth in the following letter 

 from a gentleman, than whom no other is better 

 entitled to represent the science of the country. 



PROFESSOR JOSEPH HENRY TO G. P. FISHER. 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTE, 

 November 13, 1865. 



MY DEAR SIR, Your letter requesting me to give my 

 impressions of the life and services of Professor Silliman, 

 and of the effect of his labors on the progress of knowl 

 edge in our country, with reminiscences of a personal 

 character, was received at this Institution during my ab 

 sence, and I now embrace the first opportunity since my 

 return to comply with your request. I have, however, to 



* From a Memoir of Professor Silliman, read before the National Academy 

 of Science, January 25, 1866. 



