426 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



draw you a panorama of the shores of the 

 Hudson. I know nothing except the banks 

 of the Rhine to compare with those of this 

 magnificent river. The resemblance between 

 them is striking; the sites, the nature of the 

 rocks, the appearance of the towns and vil- 

 lages, the form of the Albany bridges, even 

 the look of the inhabitants, of whom the 

 greater number are of Dutch or German ori- 

 gin, all are similar. 



I stopped at West Point to make the ac- 

 quaintance of Professor Bailey of the Military 

 School there. I already knew him by reputa- 

 tion. He is the author of very detailed and 

 interesting researches upon the microscopic 

 animalcules of America. I had a pamphlet 

 to deliver to him from Ehrenberg, who has 

 received from him a great deal of material 

 for his large work on fossil Infusoria. I 

 spent three most delightful days with him, 

 passed chiefly in examining his collections, 

 from which he gave me many specimens. We 

 also made several excursions in the neighbor- 

 hood, in order to study the erratic phenomena 

 and the traces of glaciers, which everywhere 

 cover the surface of the country. Polished 

 rocks, as distinct as possible ; moraines contin- 

 uous over large spaces ; stratified drift, as on 



