NEARER VIEW OF AMERICAN SCIENCE. 419 



my command for the purpose, and the work 

 would be a very useful one for science. 



There are several other private and public 

 collections at Philadelphia, which I have only 

 seen cursorily ; that of the Medical School, 

 for instance, and that of the older Peale, who 

 discovered the first mastodon found in the 

 United States, now mounted in his museum. 

 Beside these, there is the collection of Dr. 

 Griffith, rich in skulls from the Gulf of Mex- 

 ico; that of Mr. Ord, and others. During 

 my stay in Philadelphia, there was also an ex- 

 hibition of industrial products at the Frank- 

 lin Institute, where I especially remarked the 

 chemical department. There are no less than 

 three professors of chemistry in Philadelphia, 

 — Mr. Hare, Mr. Booth, and Mr. Frazer. 

 The first is, I think, the best known in Eu- 

 rope. 



How a nearer view changes the aspect of 

 things ! I thought myself tolerably familiar 

 with all that is doing in science in the United 

 States, but I was far from anticipating so 

 much that is interesting and important. What 

 is wanting to all these men is neither zeal nor 

 knowledge. In both, they seem to compete 

 with us, and in ardor and activity they even 

 surpass most of our savans. What they need 



