ORIGIN OF THE TREATISE ON MINERALOGY 



or a fellowship, or the aid of a friend, in original investi- 

 gation. How many young men with all the apparatus 

 and incitements of a university have done as well ? 



The system of chemical nomenclature devised by Dana 

 was appended to Professor Shepard 's Mineralogy, pub- 

 lished in May, 1835. Fortunately, there is a letter from 

 Dana to his father which tells of this recognition and its 

 encouragement. 



" NEW HAVEN, April 13, 1835. 



" Since my arrival here things have happened which I 

 had hardly expected, a knowledge of which will probably 

 show you that in my determination to spend the spring 

 and summer here, I was guided by a wish to occupy my 

 time to the most advantage. As one thing, I refer to 

 my success in obtaining a place in Silliman's Journal of 

 Science for an article of mine, that, but for the encourage- 

 ment of a scientific person here and his entire approval of 

 it, would probably have remained a long time unpub- 

 lished. This person was so much pleased with the system 

 exposed in it that he spoke of introducing it into his 

 Mineralogy, when he publishes a second edition. The 

 first is now nearly ready for sale. You remember that I 

 was writing for several days at home. That subject also 

 has much pleased this same person (Mr. Shepard,* for- 

 merly assistant to Professor Silliman), and so much so that 

 he has made use of its principles in a catalogue of minerals 

 to be appended to his forthcoming Mineralogy. He will, 

 of course, give credit to whom credit is due. He also 

 encourages me in writing on other subjects ; and probably 

 in the course of the coming year there will be other 

 articles, beside the one referred to above, to appear in the 

 Journal of Science. That article will be printed in the 

 July number. 



" I do not speak of these things from pride or vanity 

 far from it but to let you know the advantages I 

 derive from my residence in this city. At Utica my time 

 would have been entirely misspent. I there could have 

 had none of the books which I have found absolutely 



* Professor Charles U. Shepard, afterwards of Charleston, S. C., and 

 Amherst. 



37 



