Paris,
1883, May 23

My dear Jem,

Juliette has at no time been well enough to write in answer to your letter. She is very feeble & her health requires the most unremitting care. I therefore write to assure you of her perfect good-will.

We have only been here a day or two. Paris is at its best. Not that I care very much for it. We find the eating at the restaurants very bad, especially at the most expensive ones. No cooking can make boiled meat taste like fresh.

We haven't seen much. Have been to the theatre Francais to the Effronté -a rather dull

I passed some hours very agreeably today with Monsieur Breguet who told me a good many things about his celebrated atelier that I did not know & that were extremely interesting. He explained how it was that he always had had such good workmen and how he had dealt with them so as never to have any difficulty. You know his business descends from his grandfather & he

I have bought a few mathematical books. But they are chiefly old. Only Hermite's course on the integral calculus & Weirstrass's Theory of functions is new.

I am getting to find Paris a little too Parisian!

By the way, I am copying at the Bibliothèque a rather interesting epistola Petri de Maricourt De magnete. It dates from before Roger

Your aft. brother,