LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



quickened his mind and developed his powers of observa- 

 tion as the cruise upon which he entered. Under the 

 simultaneous restrictions and allurements of nautical life, 

 independence of thought was strengthened in a character 

 which by antecedent influence was prone to accept 

 authority. It was not, to any considerable degree, the 

 wonderful history of the lands adjacent to the Mediter- 

 ranean, nor their ruined cities and shrines, nor the man- 

 ners and customs of unfamiliar people which excited the 

 curiosity of this young traveller, fresh from the study of 

 Latin and Greek, but the phenomena of nature. 



Dana began to seek for an appointment in the navy as 

 early as August, 1832. In a letter dated February 14, 

 1833, he addresses Captain Ballard, U. S. N., in these 

 words: " Wishing to obtain the office of schoolmaster on 

 board one of the national vessels destined to the Medi- 

 terranean, I was advised by the Secretary of the Navy to 

 make application to you. It is a station which I seek 

 with much earnestness, and no labor will be spared on my 

 part to render myself qualified for it." The appointment 

 came in the following April, and the prospective " school- 

 master " was directed to report by the I5th of June to the 

 commanding naval officer at Norfolk, for service on board 

 the U. S. ship of the line Delaware, Captain Henry E. 

 Ballard. 



Here is a letter which throws a sidelight upon the long 

 period of uncertainty with respect to the appointment, 

 and it also indicates the interest that Dana already took 

 in the study of entomology. The writer, Edward C. 

 Herrick, was a man of uncommon parts, the circumstances 

 of whose life prevented him from attaining the distinc- 

 tion to which his tastes, his talents, and his assiduity en- 

 titled him. He received from the college an honorary 

 degree of Master of Arts in 1838. He was always ab- 

 sorbed in the duties of a business man and in serving 

 others, but intervals of leisure were largely devoted to 



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