548 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



Agassiz was now the possessor of a small 

 laboratory by the immediate sea-coast. It was 

 situated on the northeastern shore of Nahant, 

 within a stone's throw of broken and bold 

 rocks, where the deep pools furnished him 

 with ever fresh specimens from natural aqua- 

 riums which were re-stocked at every rise of 

 the tide. This laboratory, with a small cottage 

 adjoining, which was shared during the sum- 

 mer between his own family and that of Pro- 

 fessor Felton, was the gift of his father-in-law, 

 Mr. Gary. So carefully were his wishes con- 

 sidered that the microscope table stood on a 

 flat rock sunk in the earth and detached from 

 the floor, in order that no footstep or acci- 

 dental jarring of door or window in other 

 parts of the building might disturb him at his 

 work. 



There, summer after summer, he pursued his 

 researches on the medusae ; from the smaller 

 and more exquisite kinds, such as the Pleuro- 

 brachyias, Idyias, and Bolinas, to the massive 

 Cyaneas, with their large disks and heavy 

 tentacles, many yards in length. Nothing can 

 be prettier than the smaller kinds of jelly- 

 fishes. Their structure is so delicate, yet so 

 clearly defined, their color so soft, yet often 

 so brilliant, their texture so transparent, that 



