296 LOUIS AGASSrZ. [CHAP. xn. 



the numerous exertions on many lines entirely different 

 from those to which he was accustomed; the American 

 way of living, so new to him, added to his great anxiety 

 as to his future, which was still uncertain ; all this fell 

 heavily upon him ; and it is not surprising that a few days 

 after his return to Boston he was seized by a severe 

 attack of nervous prostration, a malady which clung to 

 him from this time to the end of his life, recurring now 

 and then, with an increase in the frequency of its attacks 

 as he grew older, and as he constantly and often impru- 

 dently burdened himself with new duties. 



By the end of May the settlement was achieved ; 

 rooms were assigned for microscopical studies, for the 

 dissection of animals, for the drawing of large diagrams 

 for public lectures, and the collections were sorted and 

 divided for future distribution. Every day Pourtales 

 and Charles Girard went sailing in Boston harbour, 

 dredging the bottom for specimens ; or they followed 

 on foot the edge of the tide water on beautiful Chelsea 

 beach, picking up every animal worth preserving. 



The originality of this naturalist-home brought to 

 East Boston not only all those engaged in the study of 

 natural history, but also many ladies and gentlemen 

 curious to see how practical zoology could be made. 

 Agassiz, with his usual buoyancy of spirit, and his ever- 

 ready desire to teach, showed the ladies how to look 

 into the microscope, explaining graphically the wonders 

 of each small animal. Then, turning to the tank of salt 

 water always teeming with marine animals, he would 

 take a fish, or a big jellyfish and explain its way of 

 swimming, or its system of blood circulation. Time 



