284 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



lations between fossil and living mollusks. It 

 was of vast service to him in preparing his 

 " Etudes critiques sur les Mollusques f ossiles," 

 a quarto volume with nearly one hundred 

 plates. 



The following letter to Sir Philip Egerton 

 gives some account of his undertakings at this 

 time, and of the difficulties entailed upon him 

 by their number and variety. 



LOUIS AGASSIZ TO SIB PHILIP EGERTON. 



NEUCHATEL, August 10, 1838. 



. . . These last months have been a time 

 of trial to me, and I have been forced to give 

 up my correspondence completely in order to 

 meet the ever-increasing demands of my work. 

 You know how difficult it is to find a quiet 

 moment and an easy mind for writing, when 

 one is pursued by printing or lithographic 

 proofs, and forced besides to prepare unceas- 

 ing occupation for numerous employes. Add 

 to this the close research required by the work 

 of editing, and you surely will find an excuse 

 for my delay. I think I have already written 

 you that in order to have everything under my 

 own eye, I had founded a lithographic estab- 

 lishment at Neuchatel in the hope of avoid- 

 ing in future the procrastinations to which 



