2 LOi'/S AGASSIZ. [CHAP. xin. 



he filled a large barrel with specimens. Charleston's 

 market, even more than the Boston and New York 

 markets, contributed largely to his collections, and 

 specimens accumulated rapidly. Barrel after barrel 

 was filled to its utmost capacity ; and Pourtales and 

 Girard had enough to do to keep pace with the pro- 

 fessor's well-known propensity to get hold of every 

 object of natural history with which he came in contact. 

 The collections were at first placed in the upper story, 

 or attic, of Tremont Temple, at Boston ; but during 

 the summer of 1847, they were divided into four parts: 

 one of which was sent to Berlin ; a second, to Neu- 

 chatel ; a third, to Paris ; while the fourth was kept 

 by Agassiz, and transferred to his house at East Bos- 

 ton, opposite Bird's Island, or placed in a wooden 

 shed in the garden, where several tanks containing 

 living animals constituted the aquatic laboratory. 



At the request of the Faculty of the College of 

 Physicians and Surgeons, of New York, Agassiz de- 

 livered in the hall of that institution, during the months 

 of October and November, 1847, -a series of twelve 

 lectures, the full reports of which, as given in the 

 columns of the " New York Tribune," widely attracted 

 the attention of the American public. It was the first 

 time that Agassiz's lectures were reported by stenogra- 

 phers, and printed in full, immediately after their de- 

 livery, and he was amused by hearing the newsboys 

 in the streets of New York crying at the top of their 

 voices, " Professor's Agassiz Lecture ! " The demand 

 for the papers containing these admirable discourses 

 was so great, that the editor of the "Tribune" was 



