Amherst Nov. 13th 1843
Dear Sir,
I am much indebted for your kind letter of the 30th ult. which had lain unanswered longer than I meant it should be. We are much rejoiced to find that your visit here was all pleasant to yourself while we assure you it was highly so to us. I used to think I could not get through the year without coming to New Haven. But of late years I have been less punctual not from want of inclination but because I have been obliged to take my journeys most of them in the other direction and because I find myself as I grow old more inclined to stay home. The last ten years have been with me years of incessant occupation. I feel more at liberty now & if life & health continue shall hope to visit your delightful city & feel indebted to you for your invitation as do also my family.
Your messages have been delivered to those to whom they were sent & were received with high gratification.
I have had no opportunity to consult any scientific friends respecting my communication on the tracks. But I have made up
Edward Hitchcock writes to Benjamin Silliman asking him not to print his communication about bird tracks, as he hopes "to avoid anything personal" in regard to Pliny Moody, who discovered the tracks and had asked Hitchcock to correct his statements in area newspapers. Since Hitchcock planned to write a history of the tracks for the Geological Association, he suggests that Silliman might want to instead include that in his Journal of American Science. Hitchcock also mentions an analysis of wines he has written and wonders if Silliman would like to include that in the journal.