1839-40.] LETTER TO DE CHARPENTIER. 163 



L'affection que je vous ai toujours conserve me fait regretter pour 

 vous que vous vous soyez clonne le tort de critiquer des bagatelles 

 de mes planches et de mon livre, sans citer aucun fait instructif, 

 excepte la temperature du glacier. Cette reserve est tellement frap- 

 pante que deja deux de mes amis liven ont exprime leur etonnement. 

 Mais cela s'oubliera pespere. 



Au revoir a Zurich si vous y allez, si non j'espere sur votre terri- 

 toire un pen plus tard. Mes respects a Mademoiselle de Charpen- 

 tier. Agreez Passurance, etc., etc. 



Louis AGASSIZ. 



This letter ended the friendly relations between two 

 unusually congenial men of genius, who ought to have 

 remained friends, as workers in the same field and as 

 neighbours. If left to himself, Agassiz would have 

 bridged the chasm ; but he was already too much in- 

 fluenced by his secretary and by some others of his 

 collaborators, more or less interested in keeping matters 

 embroiled. After repeatedly hearing Agassiz, and once 

 hearing de Charpentier, I do not hesitate to say that, 

 but for the objectionable surroundings in which Agassiz 

 lived from 1839 until he left Switzerland, the wound 

 would have been promptly healed and friendship re- 

 newed. 



On the 5th of August, 1840, Agassiz left Neuchatel 

 for the Grimsel. There he took into his service two of 

 the best Oberland guides, Jacob Leuthold and Jean 

 Wahren, the latter a mason by trade, and started at 

 once for the lower part of the glacier of the Aar. The 

 plan was to establish a station on the glacier itself, and 

 for that purpose to make use of Hugi's cabin, found 

 by Agassiz in the preceding year, in a very good 

 state of preservation, as already reported. But to his 



