arc. 34.] TO JOHN TORRE Y. 331 



and strong. We think of sending a critical analysis 

 of the first part of Mulder, as our joint work (if he 

 finds time to put in form the physiological deductions 

 I give him), to the meeting of geologists and natural- 

 ists at New Haven next month. 



Mulder is very ingenious ; but we can blow up the 

 whole line of his arguments, and show that it all 

 amounts to nothing ; that he has not in this advanced 

 our knowledge a particle ; and that his generalizations 

 are unsound. Why did you not have a part of my 

 article reprinted in New York ? That would be the 

 best reply to all his stuff. 



The printing of my book will be through next week. 



March 30. 



I am now half through, and have got almost done 

 with Fungi. The audience take so much to the 

 " Cryptogamic matters," especially the afternoon audi- 

 ence, which is as a whole the most intelligent and re- 

 fined, that I let them run on, and they will occupy the 

 whole course, except three lectures. I gave one lec- 

 ture, generally thought nearly the best, on the large 

 Fungi, mushrooms, truffles, morels, puff-balls, with 

 some good general matters. To-day I have taken the 

 small ones, moulds, mildews, rust, and smut in wheat, 

 with superb illustrations. Ergot is still left over, 

 along with the diseases in potatoes, the plant of 

 fermentation, the Botrytis that kills silk-worms, with 

 some recapitulatory matters on spontaneous generation, 

 which must be cooked up for Friday. Then comes 

 Alga3 ; the large proper ones (Lecture 8), of which a 

 fine series of illustrations is now nearly done. 



Lecture 9. Then the low, minute forms and Con- 

 fervae come, and gory dew, red snow, superbly illus- 



