268 SPENCER FULLERTON BAIRD 



pleasant. I should like to have a satisfactory explanation of this 

 phenomenon. There is no doubt but that the cool nights contribute 



to the healthfulness of the country. ... TT ~ 



JOHN H. CLARK. 



From Louis Agassiz to Spencer F. Baird. 



CAMBRIDGE, 4th August, 1851. 



MY DEAR FRIEND, 



How very difficult it is to do right, or at least what you think 

 to be right even with the firm determination to do it. I am struggling 

 with the desire of being punctual in my correspondence with my 

 friends and all I can do is from time to time to send them a few lines. 

 What you have written to me respecting your activity in the Smith- 

 sonian Institution has greatly interested me, and I have no doubt 

 you will do a great deal of good in that way. I thank you very much 

 for your specimens, which arrived safely last week. Pray do not 

 forget to bring on the Leuciscus Pygmaeus of DeKay, for it is one of 

 the very things I have been longing for and which I have failed 

 hithertofore to obtain. I shall not leave Cambridge before the 

 meeting. I intend returning home immediately after; will you not 

 come back with me and take a good share of the long-promised 

 specimens from Florida and other places with you. My sister-in-law 

 who has just returned from a long visit at the Lee's on Lake Cham- 

 plain and often seen your friends there, wants me to insist of your 

 coming at that time, as she intends making us then a visit and would 

 be glad to have one who knows all those people to recall pleasant 

 recollections. 



I am working very hard at the Exploring Expedition fishes, 

 and allow my papers to suffer under it, as I must make my living 

 first; but I am progressing to my satisfaction notwithstanding. I 

 hope to have the corals at least ready for the press by the beginning 

 of Sept. I have just revised my report upon the coral reefs. I 

 trust it will be an acceptable contribution to our knowledge of that 

 subject. I have received some time ago the slip of my paper read in 

 Cincinnati, it was all right. I have a long letter to write to Prof. 

 Henry before Albany, and can find no time for it. My kindest 



regards to Mrs. Baird. , r . , . , 



1 our sincere mend, 



L. AGASSIZ. 



