Washington Wednesday Jan’y 28th 1863.
It has snowed all day without cessation, but it has melted about as fast as it has come. It is a little colder tonight and the snow is three or four inches deep on the ground. Mr & Mrs Bemis called on me again today and I took them to the Agricultural Department and introduced them to the Commissioner Hon Isaac Newton who was quite attentive to them and the interview was very pleasant and quite interesting. He gave Mrs B. a number of specimens of paper made from the common cornhusk and recently rcd from Germany, proveing beyond a doubt that the best of paper can be made from the husks of indian corn. The Dutch have got ahead of the Yankees in that thing. They then went with me to the Ascension Hospital. She was anxious to see the patients. She was also highly pleased to see Charley, who was one of her old Sunday School scholars in Lyons. He was just using the “Hypodermic Syringe,” an instrument for injecting medicine under the skin instead of swallowing it. It is used in cases of billious cholic, Neuralgia & Rheumatic pains with much success. He was injecting a highly concentrated Morphia Solution for rheumatic pains. There is no particular news today. But things look a little more hopeful for the future, altho gold is 1.55 today in NY. I went out and have spent the evening at Charleys room, held the baby some, read some, and played a game of chess. It snows still and if it freezes we shall have sleighing tomorrow. O the poor soldiers in the field, how they must suffer tonight.