FINANCIAL POLICY OF THE MUSEUM. 681 



time concerning the Museum alone would fill 

 a good-sized volume. Such a correspondence 

 is unfit for reproduction here, but its minute- 

 ness shows that almost the position of every 

 specimen, and the daily, hourly work of every 

 individual in the Museum, were known to him. 

 The details of administration form, however, 

 but a small part of the material of this cor- 

 respondence. The consideration and discus- 

 sion of the future of the Museum with those 

 most nearly concerned, fill many of the let- 

 ters. They give evidence of a fostering and 

 far - reaching care, which provided for the 

 growth and progress of the Museum, long 

 after his own share in it should have ceased. 



In reviewing Agassiz's scientific life in the 

 United States, its brilliant successes, and the 

 genial generous support which it received in 

 this country, it is natural to give prominence 

 to the brighter side. And yet it must not be 

 forgotten that like all men whose ideals out- 

 run the means of execution, he had moments of 

 intense depression and discouragement. Some 

 of his letters, written at this time to friends 

 who controlled the financial policy of the Mu- 

 seum, are almost like a plea for life. While 

 the trustees urge safe investments and the ex- 

 penditure of income alone, he believes that in 



