682 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



proportion to the growth and expansion of 

 the Museum will be its power of self-main- 

 tenance and its claim on the community at 

 large. In short, expenditure seemed to him 

 the best investment, insuring a fair return, on 

 the principle that the efficiency and useful- 

 ness of an institution will always be the meas- 

 ure of the support extended to it. The two 

 or three following letters, in answer to letters 

 from Agassiz which cannot be found, show 

 how earnestly, in spite of physical depression, 

 he strove to keep the Museum in relation with 

 foreign institutions, to strengthen the former, 

 and cooperate as far as possible with the lat- 

 ter. 



FROM PROFESSOR VON SIEBOLD. 



MUNICH, 1869. 



. . . Most gladly shah 1 I meet your wishes 

 both with regard to the fresh-water fishes of 

 Central Europe and to your desire for the 

 means of direct comparison between the fishes 

 brought by Spix from Brazil and described 

 by you, and those you have recently yourself 

 collected in the Amazons. The former, with 

 one exception, are still in existence and remain 

 undisturbed, for since your day no one has 

 cared to work at the fishes or reptiles. Schu- 

 bert took no interest in the zoological cabinet 



