118 
and not unfrequently the expense of bringing out the num- 
bers became a charge upon his private funds, at least till 
generous friends came to his relief. Whatever this journal 
has done for American Science at home and abroad, and 
how much it has done every one knows, it was the creation 
of Professor Silliman. Under the management of a man of 
less energy, less confidence of hope, less devotion to the in- 
terests of science, less practical tact and administrative ability, 
the American Journal of Science would probably be remem- 
bered only as a premature and unsuccessful attempt to fol- 
low in the footsteps of older and more scientific nations. 
Professor Silliman wielded a prolific pen. In 1820 he 
published, in a duodecimo volume, the incidents and observa- 
tions of a journey from Hartford to Quebec. This journey 
was performed by slow and easy stages, and the volume 
abounds in pleasant descriptions of the different towns 
‘through which he travelled, with historical reminiscences 
and notices of geological formations. 
In 1829 he edited an edition of Bakewell’s Geology, and 
added, in an appendix, a copious compend of his own course 
of lectures to his college classes. In this compend the au- 
thor presents a clear and simple statement of the facts and 
principles of the science as they were then understood, bas- 
ing his arrangements, as he remarks, “upon the great out- 
lines of the Wernerian plan.” Without following any one as 
an authoritative guide, he evidently accords to Werner 
‘degree of merit which later writers, as I apprehend, have 
not found reason to bestow. He says, in his Preface, “It 
thas become fashionable to decry Werner ; but, without being 
his blind admirer, I may be permitted to ask, Who has done 
/ ‘more for Geology, and who has done it better?” 
ie she ss so long and so fiercely maintained re- 
ecting the Mosaic account of the Creation, he gave his 
