LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



Among other men of note then resident in New Haven 

 was the learned and eccentric geologist and poet, Dr. 

 James G. Percival, who made a geological survey of Con- 

 necticut in 1835 and published a report which is as 

 memorable for its accuracy as it is noteworthy for its 

 dryness. He was one of the collaborators of Noah 

 Webster (Dr. Webster, as he was called) in the prepara- 

 tion of his well-known dictionaries. The memory was 

 still green of the poet, James A. Hillhouse, son of the 

 Senator, James Hillhouse, whose house at the head of 

 the Avenue still adorns the grove that is known as 

 " Sachem's Wood." 



The circumstances which led to the enrolment of Pro- 

 fessor Dana in the Faculty of Yale so far as they are of 

 interest to the public are these. 



While the writing of the expedition reports was still in 

 progress, Harvard, always eager to enlist the most emi- 

 nent men, had endeavored to secure his services. The 

 foundation of the Lawrence Scientific School, the acces- 

 sion of Agassiz to its scientific corps, the endowment of 

 the astronomical observatory, and the efficient manage- 

 ment of the botanical garden gave prestige to Cambridge 

 above that of any seat of learning in this country. Dr. 

 Asa Gray was the negotiator with Dana, and to him ac- 

 cordingly Dana's decision to remain in New Haven was 

 first made known; but Gray was supported by Agassiz 

 and B. A. Gould in his overtures, and he would probably 

 have succeeded had it not been for a timely and unex- 

 pected interposition. Professor Edward E. Salisbury, a 

 wealthy and liberal resident of New Haven, ever ready 

 to promote the highest interests of his alma mater, pro- 

 posed the foundation of a Silliman Professorship of 

 Natural History, and made a generous contribution to 

 it, with the understanding that the first incumbent of 

 the chair should be Dana. This determined the question. 

 It is remarkable that the same generous person, himself a 



