Transcribe Ward, Henry A. Letter to Dewey, Chester (1856-03-31)

investigations. His lectures however have been very poorly attended, as his aim has been ratehr to satisfy his views of the importance of the subject than to edify his audience. He is for instance </u full > of statistics, & (when treating of the superficies of the earth) devoted </u five > lessons to nothing but the enumeration in feet & fathoms of the height of every Mt. & depth of every </s lake > Sen lake. & river however, Again, in his most striking conclusions about the </u upheaval of Mts. > & their regular disposal so as to form a </u pentagonal network > about the globe, he has contented himself to give us not the past but the mathematical formula (covering a huge black-board two or three times with figures) by which he has arrived at it. As a consequence his lecture room has been little frequented although as a man he is as noted for the profundity of his geological knowledge as he is interesting on account of the simplicity & kindness of his manners. The lectures of Mr. Boyle (on Paleontology) have been on the con- trary excessively interesting. He speaks with the utmost facility & in the happiest manner while at the same time he draws on the board with various coulered chalk, the different fossils which he is describing.