Transcribe Ward, Henry A. Letter to Orton, James (1852-09-30)

I obtained a good many quite perfect fossils in a shale-bed at Moscow near there. Trilobites, Gerebrotulae, Encrinites Eyathophyla, & c,/u alsoan <u>Indian Pipe, a piece of petrifiedwood, & three smalll but massive ?? firmly imbeded in stone. I have collected nearly 400 specimens since I got home, chiefly of fossils. Why Orton, the country around Rochester is completely full of Petrifactions. I could almost any day get you 50 specimens which you would like, 16 miles from here is a large bed of <u>marl of a pure snowy whiteness, which looks beatifully under the Micrisope, leaving no doubt of its being composed of the coverings of insects. What a lot of them must have been! I was confined to bed 4 days last week with Dysentery, & as I had nothing else I read Page's Geology.It seems to me I never read a book (that is of such solid reading) which interested me so much & made such a change in my feelings. I shall always after this look on the world ^earth^ in a different manner. I have nearly completed it & I believe with the exception of one or two places thoroughly understand it. I am so glad read it before any other work on the same subject. It is always necessary for me to take a general view before going into the minute. And this was just the thing. His way of handling the matter delighted me. His comprehensiveness yet distinctness, the plausible & natural conclusions at which he arrived were so pleasing, while his frequent recapitulation fixed it so strongly in my mind that with this once reading I shall rem- ember it all my life. However I hope to read it again soon for it is a subject not to be conquered in a moment.But enough! I must close, & you are no doubt glad of it for I fear it is a dry letter. I propose if well, to go west next Monday & next to seeing Father, the opportunity to get some specimens I prize. I hope, if my life is spared, to return to find a letter here from you.Do Orton in the coming 3 weeks find time to write me. Excuse the looks of this sheet on the ground of my being a miserable writer. I enclose E. Mc Clellan's note $1.00 of which is still due, please collect it for me, if convenient. Give my respects to your chum. I should dearly love to get a letter from him, ask him to write. Remember me to ?? & in fact all my old classmates. Yours truly, Scott stands the best chance out here! H. A. Ward