The Apostle of Involution. 143 



they can stand it. They can put up prices stiffly, and let 

 things take their course. But not so with the trade gen- 

 erally. The mass of booksellers are far from rich ; they 

 must sell, if at the smallest profit ; accordingly they yield 

 to the pressure and sell low. The book business at the 

 present time must therefore be looked upon as an anomaly 

 in respect to the relation between the price of materials and 

 manufactured products. 



Throughout that dreadful summer of 1863 Mr. 

 Youmans found in hard work the best specific for 

 nervous depression. He was busily engaged in re- 

 writing his Chemistry, so as to take account of the re- 

 markable discoveries which had overthrown the old 

 binary theory and given a new aspect to the whole 

 science. Amid the beating of drums and the bugle 

 notes of regiments starting for the seat of war, his 

 work was most thoroughly and conscientiously done. 

 While this was going on, a moment of acute terror 

 visited the city of New York. The following letters 

 give some account of the " draft riots " : 



Wednesday, July 15, 1863. 



DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER : We are in the midst of 

 very exciting times, and as you are probably informed of 

 it by the newspapers and may be anxious about us, I drop 

 you a line. The city has been proclaimed by the Governor 

 to be in a state of insurrection, and he is certainly right. 

 The mob rules the city. By actual violence and by fear 

 and terror they control everything. They commanded the 

 city railroad and omnibus establishments to stop running 

 or they would set fire to their stables. They are therefore 

 all stopped. They have cut the telegraphs, and torn up 

 the tracks of the railroads which go out of the city, to 

 prevent the transmission of intelligence and the entrance 



