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62.   January 1863.
[[underlined]] Sunday 18th. [[/underlined]] None of us went to church today. I reading the Letters and Life of Washington Irving reminds me of visiting the locality where the Arcade Bath stands opposite the Rotunda which has since been altered for a Cort house in Chamber Street N. York. Mr. Irving and I went to see the workmen removing the coffins which the encountered in excavating for the foundation of the bath house, it is where a burial place was during the Revolutionary war or before it, the coffins were very numerous and in some cases 3 or 4 where one over the other. The coffins were much decayed exposing the skeletons in some cases they were very perfect. My nephew John Godman was much pleased to get several of the skulls to add to his collection and made a fine specimen of one by seperating all the bones of the head showing the beautiful manner that the bones are locked together. his meathod of separating the bones is quite simple he takes a small hammer and gently tapping the skull along the suters until the can be easily sperated from each other. This burial place extended towards the City Hall. Dr. Mitchel showed me specimens of a part of a body that was exumed some years before I went to New York from that locality, the ground was moist, and all the flesh was converted in spernacitty  perfectly white and of the texture pure sperm candles, the whole body was quite perfect, but converted into spermacitty, the cloathing was moldering so as to fall to pieces on the touch. This specimen I placed in my Museum when in Broadway next to Murray St. in 1825. This specimen continued to look the same when I sold the Museum to J. V. Seaman in 1837. 
9°. calm white frost clear. 27°. calm clear. 18°. calm, clear.
[[underlined]] Monday 19. [[/underlined]] I painted all day on N. 87. Edward and Mary went after breakefast to Potte. and returned this evening. Mary White left us at noon today, settled in full with her.
11°. calm white frost. clo 1 s w. 33°. w clo 3 s w. 21°. calm, clear.
[[underlined]] Tuesday 20th. [[/underlined]] Mary was all the morning engaged in painting the drapery of Mr. Levans portrait, I therefore only painted a part of the afternoon on N. 87. Toward evening it became cloudy & too dark. I repaired a milk bucket that leaked. Miss [[Louis ? Lewis?]] came down from Potte. this morning
21°. calm, hazy clouds w frost. 33°. se clo 10. 31°. n e sprinkle of snow.

Transcription Notes:
Rubens Peale's Museum: http://theboweryboys.blogspot.com/2008/05/new-yorks-first-natural-history-museum.html