LIFE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA 



view I have held, or favored, of late. In a chemical point 

 of view, the germ requires a condition of chemical forces 

 more unusual or of a higher character than any other part 

 of an organism, for the product is in part those chemical 

 compounds which are highest in the ascending scale the 

 highest of the protein compounds and it is a just conclu- 

 sion that the formations, or chemical processes, attending 

 growth in different parts of a plant should exert some 

 mutual influence, and require some definite size in the 

 organism, or some distance of interval. But I will stop, 

 as it is a difficult subject to write upon offhand. I in- 

 tend to put something together for the Journal, or per- 

 haps for the next Association at Philadelphia. I fear 

 now I have not given above my views as they are (or as 

 they will be, for I wish to give the subject a long think- 

 ing). Any views from you on the subject would be most 

 acceptable. ' ' 



On a Possible Call to Harvard 



DANA TO ASA GRAY 



" NEW HAVEN, April 28, 1848. 



' You are very kind in the interest you express in my 

 joining the Cambridge corps. This question was sug- 

 gested to me when at the Geological Association last fall, 

 by Gould and afterwards by Agassiz, and it was highly 

 gratifying to find such friendly feelings in those I so 

 much esteem, especially as the honor was beyond my ex- 

 pectations. I told them that such a situation would be 

 most agreeable to me, for its own sake, and still more 

 for the society of science at Boston and its vicinity into 

 which I should be admitted. Returning to New Haven 

 I kept this matter to myself until near midwinter, when 

 a word from Gould led me to think it might become a 

 serious proposition. It seemed wrong for me to indulge 

 such an idea longer without mentioning it to those with 

 whom I am so intimately connected here, for you know 

 that many ties unite us. It was strongly opposed, as 

 was natural, and the hope of a position here was held 

 out. My affections and early associations are with New 

 Haven and Yale, and you will not think it strange that 



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