SKETCH OF WILLIAM WILLIAMS MATHER. 551 



applied for a warrant as a cadet at West Point, which he obtained 

 in the following year. Recommending him for this appointment, 

 the chief judge of Windham County wrote : " He is about eighteen 

 years of age, possessed of much more than common talents and 

 literature. He understands the Latin language, and some of the 

 higher branches of mathematical science, which he acquires with 

 much facility." 



He entered the academy in the summer of 1823, and, in com- 

 mon with eight or nine other members of his class, spent one year 

 more than the usual period there, being graduated in 1828. Young 

 Mather was proficient in chemical analysis, especially of ores and 

 minerals, before going to West Point, and in 1826, when Web- 

 ster's Chemistry was passing through the press, the proof-sheets 

 of a part if not the whole of the work were sent to him by 

 the author for suggestions and corrections. These were furnished 

 by him and were adopted, but Mather's name was not mentioned 

 in the preface of the book among those who had contributed to it, 

 and he expressed to his classmate and memoirist, Austin, his dis- 

 appointment at the omission. In the fall of that year he entered 

 the second class, thus coming to the studies of chemistry and 

 mineralogy in the curriculum of the academy, Webster's book 

 being used. Cadet Mather at once took the head of the class in 

 these subjects, and easily kept his place to the end of the course. 

 When off duty he explored the hills of the vicinity to collect 

 minerals for his private cabinet and that of the lyceum. The 

 chemical laboratory of the institution was also a place of resort 

 for his leisure hours. During the last year of the course he was 

 an assistant in the laboratory. He seemed to have a special apti- 

 tude for science and took great delight in experimenting. Mr. 

 Austin illustrates this tendency by the following account : 



" The winter of 1826-'27 was very cold. The ice, floating down 

 to the narrow gorge between the precipitous shores of West Point 

 and the opposite bank, became wedged there and was exceedingly 

 thick. It occurred to Mather that a favorable opportunity was thus 

 offered to ascertain the temperature of the water at the bottom of 

 the river while the surface was covered with ice. After several 

 attempts he succeeded in making a self-registering thermometer, 

 and an apparatus for bringing up a specimen of the water of the 

 lowest depth. A hole was cut through the ice about the middle 

 of the river, and the apparatus, attached to a strong cord, was let 

 down into the water, but the current was so strong that it failed 

 to reach the bottom. With a heavier weight it sank far enough, 

 but the pressure forced the cork into the bottle. The next attempt 

 was successful ; water was drawn from below, and its temperature 

 ascertained from the self-registering, compared with that indi- 

 cated by a detached, thermometer. The result of this experiment, 



