And Morse replies in the same vein: "My _cellar experiment_ was not so
unsuccessful as you imagine. I succeeded to my entire satisfaction in
taking three inches of skin, a little of the flesh and a trifle of bone
from the front of my left leg, and, as the result, got one week's entire
leisure with my leg in a chair. The experiment was so satisfactory that I
deem it needless to try it again, having established beyond a doubt that
skin, flesh and bone are no match against wood, iron and stone. I am
entirely well of it and enjoyed my visit to the western lines very much."

It was characteristic of Morse that the first money which he received
from the actual sale of his patent rights ($45 for the right to use his
patent on a short line from the Post-Office to the National Observatory
in Washington) was devoted by him to a religious purpose. From a letter
of October 20, 1846, we learn that, adding $5 to this sum, he presented
$25 to a Sunday School, and $25 to the fund for repairs.

The attachment of the three Morse brothers to each other was intense, and
lasted to the end of their lives. The letters of Finley Morse to his
brother Sidney, in particular, would alone fill a volume and are of great
interest. Most of them have never before been published and I shall quote
from them freely in following Morse's career.

Sidney and his family were still in Europe, and the two following
extracts are from letters to him:--

"_October 29, 1846._ I don't know where this will find you, but, as the
steamer Caledonia goes in a day or two, and as I did not write you by the
last steamer, I thought I would occupy a few moments (not exactly of
leisure) to write you.... Charles has little to do, but does all he can.