XXX] BOSTON TO WASHINGTON 113 



pterodactyles of strange forms, as well as the almost com- 

 plete series of links connecting the modern horse with the 

 very ancient eohippus and hyracotherium, were very in- 

 teresting. These latter were very small animals with four 

 toes, which were succeeded by larger and larger forms with 

 fewer toes, till they culminated in the modern horses, asses, 

 and zebras, with a single toe, or hoof, on each foot. 



In the evening I had the pleasure of meeting Professor 

 Dana, the first of American geologists, and one or two other 

 professors of Yale. The next morning was spent in a stroll 

 over the parks and gardens, and in admiring the grand elm 

 trees which line many of the streets of this picturesque city 

 and render it one of the most pleasing I visited in America. 

 In the afternoon I went by train to New York, and then on 

 to Poughkeepsie and to Vassar College, one of the most 

 extensive and complete ladies' colleges, where half the pro- 

 fessors are ladies, while the president was Dr. J. M. Taylor. 



I breakfasted in the hall with the lady principal, doctor, 

 professors, and students, of whom there are about three 

 hundred. Each student has a separate bedroom, and to 

 each three bedrooms there is a sitting-room, and so far as 

 possible they are allowed to group themselves. Students 

 enter at sixteen by a rather stiff examination in mathe- 

 matics, Latin, either Greek, German, or French, history, etc. 

 The regular course of study includes natural history, physi- 

 ology, chemistry, physics, and astronomy, all taught ex- 

 perimentally in laboratories, and an observatory which has 

 a meridian circle and a twelve-inch equatorial. There is also 

 a good natural history museum and art gallery. Anglo- 

 Saxon and moral philosophy are taught in the last term. 

 The grounds are over two hundred acres of rather rough 

 park-like country, containing a lake with boats and a gym- 

 nasium. In the evening I lectured on " Oceanic Islands " to 

 a good and very attentive audience. 



The next morning I had to be up at 5 a.m. in order to 

 catch the train to New York and on to Baltimore, where I 

 lectured in the evening on " Darwinism." I gave here four 

 lectures to the Peabody Institute, and one, on " Island Life," 



VOL. II. I 



