STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 179 



been introduced in California. I am glad to hear that you 

 hope coming to Italy. 



Twenty-five years spent under unwholesome condi- 

 tions had greatly affected Professor Johnson's health. 

 He had practically lived in laboratory air, heavily 

 laden with noxious fumes; to this was added brain 

 fatigue induced by literary work. He struggled on 

 through the labors and disappointments of this year — ■ 

 the account of which belongs to the story of the estab- 

 lishment of the experiment station — until the summer, 

 when, to bear his share in building up the sub-section 

 of chemistry just formed in the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science, he went to Detroit. 

 Before starting on this long, hot journey, he joined 

 for a short time his friends. Professor and Mrs. Nor- 

 ton of New Haven, at their country home on Shepard 

 Hill, Holderness. The peaceful beauty of the New 

 Hampshire hill country was very dear to him, and this 

 hospitable home, always freely open, was an accus- 

 tomed refuge. On his return to New Haven he found 

 a note from Professor Norton commenting upon his 

 activity at Detroit : 



I see by the paper you sent me that you have fully shaken 

 off the Holderness laziness, and set to work again. Reading 

 half a dozen papers at one session is a rather precipitate 

 recovery from the quieting influences of this region. 



When Professor Johnson attempted to resume his 

 college duties at the beginning of the fall term, it 

 became evident that he was seriously unwell. After 

 a few months under the care of physicians, he went 

 abroad, in the hope that an entire change of scene 

 would expedite his recovery. 



