REMINISCENCES BY PROF. H. C. CAMERON. 175 



Philadelphia, met him in the college campus in Princeton. He had 

 not yet reached his home, and standing with his carpet-bag in his 

 hand, he gave the writer an account of the interview, and the rea- 

 sons which induced him to decline a position so well suited to his 

 tastes, his wishes, his attainments. He said it would not be honor- 

 able for him to decline a position which his scientific brethren 

 desired him to occupy, and where he could accomplish much for 

 science if not for himself; but especially because, if he accepted the 

 chair in Philadelphia, to which a larger salary was attached than he 

 should receive in Washington, it might be supposed that he was 

 influenced by pecuniary reasons. How different would have been 

 the great philosopher's career had his decision been different ! 



He did not favor the erection of a large building for the Institu- 

 tion, remarking that he needed only two rooms as an office. When 

 it was determined to erect the fine building which now adorns the 

 public grounds at Washington, he employed only a portion of the 

 interest that had accumulated, and built slowly, so that a portion of 

 this was saved and was added to the original fund. 



The first paper that was offered him for publication, according to 

 the writer's recollection, was one by Dr. John Locke, upon the 

 Ancient Mounds in Ohio. The writer well remembers the large 

 bundle of MS., a portion of which, at least, was published in the 

 first volume of the Smithsonian Contributions, if the entire paper 

 was not accepted.* 



How faithfully the Secretary discharged all his duties is well 

 known. Amid all the corruption of public life at Washington, 

 there was never a spot upon the fair fame of Joseph Henry ; not 

 a breath ever tarnished his reputation. In addition to his duties as 

 Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, as President of the 

 Light-house Board, he annually inspected the light-houses, and 

 devoted a considerable portion of his vacations for sixteen years to 

 experiments on light and sound for the benefit of the General 

 Government. His only compensation was his expenses. In the 

 desk in the small room that had been fitted up for him near the 



* [The paper of Dr. LOCKE was incorporated (with due acknowledgement) in 

 the extended Memoir on "The Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley," 

 by Messrs. SQUIER and DAVIS; which work occupied the entire first volume of 

 the Smithsonian Contributions.] 



