“I found, when I went to breakfast the next morning, that the story had preceded me, and I was called ‘George Washington.’

“But for all this, I got almost no observation; the fog came up, and I had scarcely anything better than an estimation.  I saw the comet blaze out, just on the edge of the field, and I could read its declination only.

“On the 28th, 29th, and July 1st, I obtained good meridian passages, and the R.A. must be very good.

“Jan. 12, 1882.  There is a strange sentence in the last paragraph of Dr. Jacobi’s article on the study of medicine by women, to the effect that it would be better for the husband always to be superior to the wife.  Why?  And if so, does not it condemn the ablest women to a single life?

“March 13, 1882, 3 P.M.  I start for faculty, and we probably shall elect what are called the ‘honor girls.’  I dread the struggle that is pretty certain to come.  Each of us has some favorite whom she wishes to put into the highest class, and whom she honestly believes to be of the highest order of merit.  I never have the whole ten to suit me, but I can truly say that at this minute I do not care.  I should be sorry not to see S., and W., and P., and E., and G., and K. on the list of the ten, but probably that is more than I ought to expect.  The whole system is demoralizing and foolish.  Girls study for prizes, and not for learning, when ‘honors’ are at the end.  The unscholarly motive is wearing.  If they studied for sound learning, the cheer which would come with every day’s gain would be health-preserving.

“...  I have seven advanced students, and to-day, when I looked around to see who should be called to help look out for meteors, I could consider only one of them not already overworked, and she was the post-graduate, who took no honors, and never hurried, and has always been an excellent student.

“...  We are sending home some girls already [November 14], and ——­ is among them.  I am somewhat alarmed at the dropping down, but ——­ does an enormous amount of work, belongs to every club, and writes for every club and for the ‘Vassar Miscellany,’ etc.; of course she has the headache most of the time.

“Sometimes I am distressed for fear Dr. Clarke [Footnote:  Author of “Sex in Education.”] is not so far wrong; but I do not think it is the study—­it is the morbid conscientiousness of the girls, who think they must work every minute.

“April 26, 1882.  Miss Herschel came to the college on the 11th, and stayed three days.  She is one of the little girls whom I saw, twenty-three years since, playing on the lawn at Sir John Herschel’s place, Collingwood.

“...  Miss Herschel was just perfect as a guest; she fitted in beautifully.  The teachers gave a reception for her, ——­ gave her his poem, and Henry, the gardener, found out that the man in whose employ he lost a finger was her brother-in-law, in Leeds!