132 LOUIS AGASSIZ. [CHAP. vi. 



him to go into the field for fossils and bring back all he 

 could collect, arranging the specimens by strata, clean- 

 ing them, and further to revise the practical geology of 

 all his publications on fossils. No regular pay was to 

 be given, for Agassiz's money was already engaged to 

 defray more than it could reasonably provide for ; but 

 Agassiz promised to provide his lodging and board, to 

 pay his travelling expenses, and to give him money when 

 wanted for his personal needs, if at such times Agassiz 

 had any. In a word, it was the same unbusiness-like 

 arrangement which Agassiz used almost all his life, and 

 which was a constant source of difficulty with all his 

 assistants. With Gressly the arrangement was perfectly 

 satisfactory, and, strange to say, he was the only one 

 who never gave any trouble to Agassiz. But Gressly 

 was so easily contented, so timid, and had so few wants, 

 that he was the cheapest savant imaginable to support. 



A few details will give an idea of the man and his 

 very limited requirements. Agassiz had to pay for his 

 lodging, which consisted of a small bedroom, poorly 

 furnished, and which soon became a true pandemonium 

 of the most sordid kind. He boarded when in Neu- 

 chatel at a third-rate inn called Le Poisson, kept by the 

 sister of the artist Jacques Burkhardt. When travelling 



- always on foot - - there was even less expense ; for 

 Gressly entered the first farm on his road, and asked for 

 food and lodging. He had already roamed all over the 

 Swiss Jura Mountains to make the observations which 

 had resulted in his excellent " Observations geologiques 

 sur le Jura Soleurois," and was well known personally 

 or by reputation by almost all the country people, who 



