1865—1870 167 



left Paris, my progress having been retarded by a fall on my 

 left side. Fortunately, I sustained no fracture, but only 

 bruises, which were naturally painful and very slow to dis- 

 appear. 



''There are now no remaining traces of that accident, and 

 I am as I was three weeks ago. The improvement in the move- 

 ments of the leg and arm appears to have begun again, but 

 with excessive slowness. I am about to have recourse to elec- 

 tricity, under the advice and instructions of Dr. Godelier, by 

 means of a small Ruhmkorff apparatus which he has kindly 

 sent me. My brain is still very weak. 



''This is how my days are spent: in the morning my three 

 young friends come to see me, and I arrange the day's work. 

 I get up at twelve, after having my breakfast in bed, and 

 having had the newspaper read to me. If fine, I then spend 

 an hour or two in the little garden of this house. Usually, if 

 I am feeling pretty well, I dictate to my dear wife a page, 

 or more frequently half a page, of a little book I am preparing, 

 and in which I intend to give a short account of the whole of 

 my observations. Before dinner, which I have alone with my 

 wife and my little girl in order to avoid the fatigue of conver- 

 sation, my young collaborators bring me a report of their work. 

 About seven or half past, I always feel terribly tired and in- 

 clined to sleep twelve consecutive hours; but I invariably wake 

 at midnight, not to sleep again until towards morning, when 

 I doze again for an hour or two. What makes me hope for an 

 ultimate cure is the fact that my appetite keeps good, and that 

 those short hours of sleep appear to be sufficient. You see that 

 on the whole I am doing nothing rash, being moreover rigor- 

 ously watched by my wife and little daughter. The latter 

 pitilessly takes books, pens, papers and pencils away from me 

 with a perseverance which causes me joy and despair. 



"It is becaase I know your affection for your pupils that I 

 Venture to give you so many details. I will now answer the 

 other questions in your letter. 



"I shall be at Alais from April 1; that will be the time 

 when they will begin hatching seed for the industrial cam- 

 paign, which will consequently be concluded about May 20 at 

 the latest. Seeding will take place during June, more or less 

 early according to departments. It is indeed very late to 

 obtain seed, especially indigenous seed prepared according to 

 my process. I had foreseen that I should receive demands at 



