New Haven Aug. 10, 1844
My dear sir,
Agreeably to the assent contained in your letter, your proofs will go to Dr Deane & his to you. From the pressure of long articles we find it necessary to postpone Dr Deane’s detailed analysis which will form a distinct article in the next ^ No while only the results will be given in the midst of your paper.
I have written to Dr Dana [Deane] to inform him of this arrangement & that proofs of your article would be sent to him that he might see that the results were correctly given. He has been informed also that his analysis, in extenso, would be very soon set up & the proofs forwarded to him, duplicates or more if he desired, & thus he could conveniently revise & enlarge or qualify as the case might require, and I suggested that it was not improbable that you & Dr Deane might have additional facts by January.
I think highly of Dr Dana’s article & regret its postponement, but are more than full of matters for which we are pledged.
I have not yet had leisure to attend to the drawings but we shall soon ascertain what we can
Benjamin Silliman informs Edward Hitchcock that proofs of his and James Deane's articles will be exchanged between the two men before publication in the American Journal of Science, and that Deane's rather lengthy article will be published later. He also warns Hitchcock to watch his remarks about Deane in public, for "A very eminent geologist to whom we had never named the controversy or in any way alluded to it in relation to him, expresses recently in a letter to my son, & subsequently in one to myself, his great regret that you have thought it necessary to bring this matter before the public. . ." It would be better if Hitchcock would stick to facts and not attempt to define "discovery", and temper his remarks about Deane, as "Your language is mild & kind but it will I suspect be thought to depress Dr Deane lower than an active & intelligent observer ought to be placed." Silliman ends the letter by reminding Hitchcock that he will remain faithful to their friendship.