in the mass, discernible however, by Hamilton alone, and any invasion
of the domestics, with a view to tidying up, would throw the
mathematician as we are informed, into "a good honest thundering
passion."

Hardly any two men, who were both powerful mathematicians, could have
been more dissimilar in every other respect than were Hamilton and De
Morgan. The highly poetical temperament of Hamilton was remarkably
contrasted with the practical realism of De Morgan. Hamilton sends
sonnets to his friend, who replies by giving the poet advice about
making his will. The metaphysical subtleties, with which Hamilton
often filled his sheets, did not seem to have the same attraction for
De Morgan that he found in battles about the quantification of the
Predicate. De Morgan was exquisitely witty, and though his jokes
were always appreciated by his correspondent, yet Hamilton seldom
ventured on anything of the same kind in reply; indeed his rare
attempts at humour only produced results of the most ponderous
description. But never were two scientific correspondents more
perfectly in sympathy with each other. Hamilton's work on
Quaternions, his labours in Dynamics, his literary tastes, his
metaphysics, and his poetry, were all heartily welcomed by his
friend, whose letters in reply invariably evince the kindliest
interest in all Hamilton's concerns. In a similar way De Morgan's
letters to Hamilton always met with a heartfelt response.

Alike for the memory of Hamilton, for the credit of his University,
and for the benefit of science, let us hope that a collected edition
of his works will ere long appear--a collection which shall show
those early achievements in splendid optical theory, those
achievements of his more mature powers which made him the Lagrange of