d in the negative, but
offered to submit it to a professional mathematician for an opinion
of its merits. I gladly accepted this proposal, which was just what
I wanted. In due course a copy of the report was sent me. One part
of the work was praised for its elegance, but a lack of completeness
and rigor was pointed out. It was accompanied by a pleasant note
from Professor Henry remarking that, while not so favorable as I might
have expected, it was sufficiently so to encourage me in persevering.

The other effort to which I refer was of quite a different character.
A copy of the "National Intelligencer," intended for some subscriber
who had left Sudlersville, came to the post-office for several months,
and, there being no claimant, I frequently had an opportunity to
read it. One of its features was frequent letters from volunteer
writers on scientific subjects. Among these was a long letter
from one G. W. Eveleth, the object of which was to refute the
accepted theory of the universe, especially the view of Copernicus.
For aught I knew Mr. Eveleth held as high a position as any one else
in the world of science and letters, so I read his article carefully.
It was evidently wholly fallacious, yet so plausible that I feared
the belief of the world in the doctrine of Copernicus might suffer
a severe shock, and hastened to the rescue by writing a letter over
my own name, pointing out the fallacies. This was published in the
"National Intelligencer"--if my memory serves me right--in 1855.
My full name, printed in large capitals, in a newspaper, at the bottom
of a letter, filled me with a sense of my temerity in appearing so
prominently in print, as if I were intruding into company where I
might not be wanted.

My letter had two most unexpected and gratifying results. One was
a presentation of a copy of Lee's "Tables and Formulae," which came
to me a few days later through the mail with the compliments of
Colonel Abert. Not long afterward came a letter from Professor
J. Lawrence Smith, afterward a member of the National Academy of
Sciences, transmitting a copy of a pamphlet by him on the theory
that meteorites were masses thrown up from the volcanoes of the moon,
and asking my opinion on the subject.

I had not yet gotten into the world of light. But I felt as one who,
standing outside, could knock against the wall and hear an answering
knock from within.

The beginning of 1856 found me teaching in the family of