asked, as modestly as I could, 'Have you any pupils in Latin and
mathematics?' and she said, 'No, it's for girls, you know. Dr. M. hopes
we shall have some mathematics next year.' 'And,' I asked, 'some Latin?'
'Yes, Dr. M. hopes we shall have some Latin; but I confess I believe
Latin and mathematics all bosh; give them modern languages and
accomplishments. I suppose your school is for professional women.'

"I told her no; that the daughters of our wealthiest people demand
learning; that it would scarcely be considered 'good society' when the
women had neither Latin nor mathematics.

"'Oh, well,' she said, 'they get married here so soon.'

"When I asked her if they had lady teachers, she said 'Oh, no [as if
that would ruin the institution]; nothing but first-class masters.'

"It was clear that the women taught the needlework."

CHAPTER XI

PAPERS--SCIENCE [1874]--THE DENVER ECLIPSE [1878]--COLORS OF STARS

"The dissemination of information in regard to science and to scientific
investigations relieves the scientist from the small annoyances of
extreme ignorance.

"No one to-day will expect to receive a letter such as reached Sir John
Herschel some years ago, asking for the writer's horoscope to be cast;
or such as he received at another time, which asked, Shall I marry? and
Have I seen _her_?

"Nor can it be long, if the whole population is somewhat educated, that
I shall be likely to receive, as I have done, applications for
information as to the recovery of stolen goods, or to tell fortunes.

"When crossing the Atlantic, an Irish woman came to me and asked me if I
told fortunes; and when I replied in the negative, she asked me if I
were not an astronomer. I admitted that I made efforts in that
direction. She then asked me what I could tell, if not fortunes. I told
her that I could tell when the moon would rise, when the sun would rise,
etc. She said, 'Oh,' in a tone which plainly said, 'Is _that_ all?'

"Only a few winters since, during a very mild winter, a young lad who
was driving a team called out to me on the street, and said he had a
question to ask me.

"I stopped; and he asked, 'Shall we lose our ice-crop this winter?'

"It was January, and it was New England. It took very little learning
and no alchemy to foretell that the month of February and the
neighborhood of Boston would give ice enough; and I told him that the
ice-crop would be abundant; but I was honest enough to explain to him
t