72 THE NATURAUST OF THE ST. CROIX 



while the charming manners of Mrs. Boardman endeared 

 her to all and together they attended dinner parties and 

 receptions at several places where they were always 

 esteemed guests. Thus to the solid enjoyment of the 

 study of science were added the charms of society of 

 which Mr. Boardman was fond and to which he con- 

 tributed so much of pleasure to both host and guests. 



During most of the winter which Mr. Boardman had 

 spent in Washington, Prof. Joseph Henry, who had been 

 secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for a period of 

 thirty-two j^ears, had been in failing health. On reach- 

 ing his home in Milltown that spring, Mr. Boardman 

 received a letter from Prof. Baird informing him of Prof. 

 Henry's death which took place May 13, 1878 and also 

 of his own election as Prof. Henry's successor. In a 

 letter to Prof. Baird, dated May 22 of that year, Mr. 

 Boardman wrote: "I am sorry to hear of the death of 

 Prof. Henry ; although knowing how ill he was when we 

 left Washington I was not at all surprised to read of his 

 death. I was much pleased at the vote you received to 

 make you the head of the institution the office that 

 you have richly earned." This extract from Mr. Board- 

 man's letter is most characteristic of the man plain, 

 straightforward and business-like, with no attempt at 

 undue praise or eulog)^ just the simple, sincere expres- 

 sion of a true friend unused to the multiplication of words 

 on any occasion, but making use of plain sentences full 

 of meaning. A memorandum at the close of Mr. Board- 

 man's diary for 1878 gives a list of fifty-six names of 

 naturalists with whom he had been in correspondence 

 during the year. The list embraces many names of 

 persons eminent in science in this country, in New 

 Brunswick, in Nova Scotia and in England. 



