338 The American Geologist. December. 1896 
sonian fossil collections, he seemed to be thinking upon some- 
thing other than the work in hand. We were alone, sitting at 
opposite sides of a table, when he looked up to me and said : 
'• Doctor, I had a very strange dream last night. I dreamed 
that I was sitting in my old room at home, when I suddenly 
heard in an adjoining room the notes of a piano, which were 
immediately accompanied with a song. The song was one 
with which I was familiar in my younger days, and I recog- 
nized the voice as that of my sister. She has been in her 
grave for thirty years, and my deafness is so complete that I 
have not heard a sound of any kind for a long time." 
The circumstance was impressive, as was his manner in re- 
lating his dream ; but after giving his feelings time to become 
a little composed I determined to make the occasion serve my 
long cherished purpose of getting from his own lips some ac- 
count of his personal history. I accordingly said to him that, 
being younger than he, I should probably outlive him, and 
then I plainly asked him for the data I wanted, saying that 
in case of my survival I would publish them. He hesitated a 
little at first, but then in reply to my questions he gave me 
the following facts, to which he seemed disposed to confine 
his statements. 
He was born in the city of Madison, Indiana, December 10, 
1817. His grandparents were Irish Presbyterians, who re- 
moved to America from county Armagh about the year 1798 
and, after a few moves, made their permanent home in Ham- 
ilton county^, Ohio. There his father grew up to manhood and 
married, but with his young family he removed to Madison, 
where he became a lawyer of considerable eminence. The 
family, including the children who were born in Madison, con- 
sisted of the parents, two sons and two daughters, all of 
whom died several years before his own decease. The father 
died when Fielding was only three years old, leaving the fam- 
il}^, not in want, but not in a condition to give the children 
so liberal an education as they desired. 
Fielding's early youth was spent in the citj'' of his birth, 
where he attended the best schools that were then established 
there, but his delicate health greatly interfered with his edu- 
cation. Still, the time of those years was not lost, for while 
they were passing the boy began to develop that love for nat- 
