ned on making the tour of the United States, I resolved
first to prepare my theory for the press. In the introduction, I
remarked, "The house of clay in which the mind dwells must receive a
portion of its care; and that which I have bestowed on mine has
proceeded on a belief in the truth of the theory herein advocated, as
undoubting as that in the laws of gravitation; and when any new fact, or
any remark of an author, relating to my theory came under my
observation, I noted it down and laid it by with its kindred. About to
set out on a long journey, and aware that my field of vision had thus
enlarged, I felt it my duty to put together the principal of my remarks,
that I might so leave the subject, that, in case anything should prevent
my return, it would be in a form equal to the present slate in which the
theory exists in my own mind."

The time I had spent in devotion to this theory, the many rebuffs I had
met in seeking to promulgate it--sometimes, unhappily, affecting my
social life--had made painful the duty of publishing it. My historical
works had been received with favor; but I believed that, in publishing
this, it would be charged against me that I chose a subject unsuited to
my sex. I therefore said, in my preface, "This is not so much a subject
which I chose, as one which chooses me; and if the Father of Lights has
been pleased to reveal to me from the book of his physical truth a
sentence before unread, is it for me to suppose that it is for my
individual benefit? or is it for you, my reader, to turn away your ear
from hearing this truth, and charge its great Author with having
ill-chosen his instrument to communicate it?"

As I passed southward on my journey, I left, March, 1846, my
manuscript in the hands of Wiley & Putnam, in N. York:[4] to be
published at my expense. During the six months in which I was absent
on my travels, my book was published; and the publishers sent copies,
as directed by me, to many of my personal friends, and to several
physicians. They sent other copies, which procured notices, some of
which were favorable, particularly one from the _London Critic_, and
others, the reverse. As few copies of the book sold, I was not
remunerated for the cost of publication. The copies sent to physicians
were mostly unacknowledged--received in cold, if not contemptuous,
silence. But my family physician, the worthy and learned Dr. Robbins,
to whom I dedicated the work, ever upheld me. He answered my