Page:Recollections of John Howard Redfield.djvu/262

Rh occupied the chairs of chemistry and botany in the institution just mentioned. His manner was simple and attractive, he was very clear in his reasonings, and very dexterous in manipulation, so that his experiments were rarely unsuccessful. The course was much fuller and more advanced than that which Dr. Griscom had given us, and the doctrine of atomic weights and chemical equivalents was most clearly illustrated. At the close of the course I imagined that "I knew it all." I now realize how ignorant I was, and such advances has the science since made that recently-published chemical papers are to me absolutely unintelligible. Yet what I then learned was of great use to me, and aided me much in increasing the mineralogical knowledge which I had acquired from Mr. Barnes. And the acquaintance and friendship of Dr. Torrey became a privilege which continued till the close of his life in 1873. He became one of the most eminent botanists of the day, and his chemical knowledge and dexterity called him to the head of the United States Assay Office in New York, which position he held at the time of his death.

Near the close of 1830 my brother was taken out of the New York High School and sent to Farmington, Conn., to a boarding-school kept by Deacon Simeon Hart, assisted by a nephew, Edward L. Hart. I believe the change was beneficial; at any rate, he