CORRESPONDENCE, 1856-66. 297 



To Sir John Herschel. 



Oct. 15, 1858. 



MY DEAR SIR JOHN, It's all very well for people to be clever, 

 and go to the British Association, and talk philosophy and 

 chemistry and confound the hard words ! transcendity, which 

 transcends all entity whatever, and is next ot kin to the two 

 German equations 



Everything=God. 

 God =0. 



This, I say, is all well as far as it goes. But can your philosophy 

 answer me this ? Suppose the Northern Hemisphere to be all 

 land, the Southern Hemisphere all water : is the Northern Hemi- 

 sphere an island, or the Southern Hemisphere a lake ? Crack 

 that. 1 



Yours very truly, 



A. DB MORGAN. 



To Sir John Herschel. 



Camden Street, Nov. 15, 1858. 



MY DEAR SIR JOHN, I have as nmch chance of meaning to 

 try for the Lowndean as I should have of getting it if I tried 

 (=0). Knew yon not that I am a heretic who is B.A. of thirty- 

 one years' standing by reason of subscriptions being unsub- 

 scribable ? Moreover, I have other fish to fry. Cayley is a 

 capital man for it. 



I hope you have been asked to do a memoir of Peacock for 

 the R.S. anniversary. He is lost at the time when he is most 

 wanted. 



I heard of your frisking about the country like a young 



1 The geographical question was answered with another by Sir 

 John Herschel. 



* Suppose all was water except a patch of land of an insular form 

 round the North Pole, N in radius (N = 3), would that be an island ? 

 I should say yes, because it is land. Next, let N=-4, same question. 

 Next, N = 5, N = 6, 20, 30, 90. 



' At what value of N does it cease to be an island ? 



'Then N = 95, 100 ... 179 59' 59". At what value does the sea 

 cease to be an ocean, a lake, a pool, a pond, or a puddle ? I pause for 

 a reply/ Collingwood, Oct. 18. 



