LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



correspond to the leaf-individuals and flower-individuals of 

 the other. His slender, erect form, his sharp, clear-cut 

 features and penetrating eyes, his eager face and noble 

 head crowned with abundant and somewhat dishevelled 

 hair, and, above all, the combination of philosophic 

 thought and poetic imagination embodied in the paper, 

 made an indelible impression on me an impression which 

 has only deepened with time. The leaders in American 

 science, at that time, were such men as Agassiz, Pierce, 

 Henry, Bache, William and Henry Rogers, Gray, and 

 Hall surely as brilliant a constellation of first-magnitude 

 stars as any since that time. Among such men, Dana, 

 although only thirty-seven years old, was a prominent 

 figure, for had he not already published his great work 

 on mineralogy and his researches on the zoophytes, crus- 

 tacea, and the geology of the United States Exploring 

 Expedition ? " 



Not long before his marriage Dana thus reviewed the 

 steps of his career in one of the confidential and affection- 

 ate letters which from time to time he addressed to his 

 mother * : 



" Leaving college, my wish to visit the Mediterranean 

 was at once gratified, and soon after I returned the place 

 with Professor Silliman, for which I had long before 

 applied, was open for me. The year then had hardly 

 finished when I received my appointment in the expedi- 

 tion, and now I have returned again after a cruise of un- 

 usual dangers, in the course of which, at least seven or 

 eight times, death seemed to stare us in the face, and all 

 are alive and in health that I left behind. I might go on 

 and speak of other sources of happiness since my return ; 

 but you know all. Surely my cup of mercies has been 

 full to overflowing. How few of my playmates at school 

 can now look back upon such constant prosperity ! May 

 these mercies prove a blessing and not a curse ; may they 

 direct my heart upward to the Author of every good and 

 perfect gift, and lead to a more complete conversion of 

 all my powers and energies to Him who in the events of 

 His providence and grace has so loved us." 



* Washington, January 2, 1843. 

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