1858-64-] SAMUEL H. SCUDDER. 95 



this alcohol had l a very ancient and fish-like smell, 1 I really dared 

 not show any aversion within these sacred precincts, and treated the 

 alcohol as though it were pure water. Still I was conscious of a 

 passing feeling of disappointment, for gazing at a fish did not com- 

 mend itself to an ardent entomologist. 



"... In ten minutes I had seen all that could be seen in that 

 fish. . . . Half an hour passed, an hour, another hour; the fish 

 began to look loathsome. I turned it over and around ; looked it 

 in the face. ghastly! from behind, beneath, above, sideways, at 

 a three-quarters view, just as ghastly. I was in despair. At an 

 early hour I concluded that lunch was necessary ; so, with infinite 

 relief, the fish was carefully replaced in the jar, and for an hour I 

 was free. 



" On my return. I learned that Professor Agassiz had been at 

 the Museum, but had gone, and would not return for several hours. 

 . . . Slowly I drew forth that hideous fish, and, with a feeling 

 of desperation, again looked at it. I might not use a magnifying 

 glass ; instruments of all kinds were interdicted. My two hands, 

 my two eyes, and the fish ; it seemed a most limited field. . . . 

 At last a happy thought struck me I would draw the fish ; and 

 now, with surprise, I began to discover new features in the creature. 

 Just then the professor returned. 



"'That is right, 1 said he; 'a pencil is one of the best eyes. I 

 am glad to notice, too, that you keep your specimen wet and your 

 bottle corked. 1 



" With these encouraging words, he added : - 



"'Well, what is it like ?' 



" He listened attentively to my brief rehearsal of the structure 

 of parts whose names were still unknown to me. . . . When I 

 had finished, he waited as if expecting more, and then, with an air 

 of disappointment. ' You have not looked very carefully ; why, 1 he 

 continued most earnestly, i you haven't even seen one of the most 

 conspicuous features of the animal, which is as plainly before your 

 eyes as the fish itself. Look again! look again!' and he left me to 

 my misery. 



"I was piqued; I was mortified. Still more of that wretched 

 fish ! But now I set myself to my task with a will, and discovered 



