THE LIFE OF PETER LESLEY
The life and letters of Peter and Susan Lesley have been edited by their daughter, Mrs. Mary Lesley Ames, and published in two volumes of considerable size by Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons. The biography and the letters are largely personal in character. They are documents of human interest in depicting the lives of two superior and attractive personalities in their relations to the social conditions of New England and Philadelphia during the larger part of the last century. They also throw some light on the history of science in this country.
Lesley was born in Philadelphia in 1819 of Scotch presbyterian stock and dedicated to the ministry. His health being broken at the age of nineteen he obtained a place as assistant in the newly-organized geological survey of Pennsylvania, in order that he might have outdoor work for a season. Thus he was drawn to geology almost by an accident, as indeed it may be held that the comparatively considerable contribution of America to geology during the last century was a by-product of the development of our natural resources. Lesley completed his theological studies at Princeton, studied in Germany at a time when this was unusual, became a missionary in the
