CORRESPONDENCE, 1856-66. 289 



I never heard of the man in my life. I made the following note 185(5. 

 on the letter, and did not send it : 



' Est modus in rebus, stint certi demque fines. 

 How could I answer this letter in less than five sheets full of 

 lines ? ' 



Yours truly, 



A. DE MORGAN. 



To Sir John HerscheL 



7 Camden Street, Sept. 10, 1856. 



MY DEAR SIR JOHN, This letter is not written to be framed 

 and glazed, but because, quoad the form, I must have a line no 

 longer than the sway of the wrist, because the arm is in a sling; 

 because on Friday last I put out the shoulder, because I and 

 my book. ladder slid down together, because the angle at which 

 said ladder may be trusted on a beaten and tightly nailed carpet 

 is very different from the same when the carpet is dusty and 

 what seamen call loose in stays, because the coefficient of friction 

 is vastly altered. However, I am thriving apace, and my wife, 

 who would not believe my report of exceeding good health 

 written with a pencil an hour after the replacement of the 

 shoulder, but ran up to see how things were, went back to the 

 children satisfied that I was a convalescent. . . . 



Now mark, dislocations are among the minor evils which step 

 in to shut the door in the face of greater ones. If the bone had 

 been invincible, and all the wrench withstood by the muscles, I 

 should have had a long fainting fit or fever, a sprain of six 

 months, and it would have been a question whether I should 

 have used the arm again ; whereas, after a flash of fire and a 

 bump, cogito ergo sum began to act, and I got up as much as 

 ever alive to all things, and especially to the necessity of sending 

 for a doctor. However, all this is merely as to the form of the 

 writing. 



Do you remember Sir H. Davy's habits ? "Was he in the 

 habit of rubbing his hands together in any peculiar way and 

 frequently ? I want to know, because verification of a story 

 too long to write now depends on it. 



I shall hope to hear a good account of yourself. With kind 

 regards to all around you, believe me, 



Yours very truly, 



A. DE MORGAN. 



