VISIT TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. 413 



of art are curiosities but little appreciated and 

 usually still less understood. On the other 

 hand, the whole population shares in the 

 advanced education provided for all. . . . 

 From Springfield the railroad follows the 

 course of the Connecticut as far as Hartford, 

 turning then directly toward the sea-coast. 

 The valley strikingly resembles that of the 

 Rhine between Carlsruhe and Heidelberg. 

 The same rock, the same aspect of country, 

 and gres bigarre 1 everywhere. The forest 

 reminds one of Odenwald and of Baden- 

 Baden. Nearer the coast are cones of basalt 

 like those of Brissac and the Kaiserstuhl. 

 The erratic phenomena are also very marked 

 in this region ; polished rocks everywhere, 

 magnificent furrows on the sandstone and 

 on the basalt, and parallel moraines defining 

 themselves like ramparts upon the plain. 



At New Haven I passed several days at 

 the house of Professor Silliman, with whom I 

 have been in correspondence for several years. 

 The University (Yale) owes to the efforts of 

 the Professor a fine collection of minerals 

 and extensive physical and chemical appara- 

 tus. Silliman is the patriarch of science in 

 America. For thirty years he has edited 



1 Trias. 



