liminary papers, which had greatly excited the interest and curiosity 

 of the zoological world. Gegenbaur now proposed that I should take 

 this wealth of preparations and write a series of papers, beginning 

 where Calberla had left off. This was a magnificent stroke of good 

 fortune for me: by thus falling heir to Calberla's scarcely begun work, 

 I was furnished with a theme of the first order of importance, as it 

 was regarded then, and saved several years in the collection and prepa- 

 ration of the material. 



Calberla's tragedy was my opportunity and it would have been folly 

 to reject it. Nevertheless, I have always felt compunction over the way 

 in which I stepped into a dead man's shoes, though it could have been 

 of no benefit to him, had I refused to do so. Of course, in my pubHca- 

 tions dealing with this material, I always gave Calberla all possible 

 credit for his share in our joint undertaking, but I have always wished 

 that I might have done all the work myself, though, to my knowledge, 

 no one has ever made any objection to my use of the preparations. 



Had it not been for this marvellous windfall, I should not, in all 

 probability, have remained very long in Heidelberg, for my relations 

 with Gegenbaur soon became exceedingly difficult and the only thing 

 that enabled me to endure his studied rudeness and insolence toward 

 me was the unparalleled opportunity which Calberla's industry and 

 skill had given me. I felt that such a chance could not come twice in 

 a lifetime and that I would go through fire and water to hold it, a 

 determination which had the happiest effects from every point of view. 

 I am exceedingly glad that I did not suffer myself to be driven away 

 from the prey in which I had fastened my teeth. My friend and labor- 

 atory mate. Dr. Gadow, explained the "Pacha's" (our nickname for 

 him) demeanour toward me as being due to his extreme disHke of my 

 predecessor, also an American who, like me, had been a student of 

 Huxley's and had presented a letter from that eminent man. Gadow 

 declared that the Pacha was just trying me out, to see whether I were 

 such another, or whether I had the pluck and determination to stick to 

 my chance despite unpleasant features. 



The course of events seemed to show that Gadow's interpretation was 

 the correct one. My first interviews with the Herrn Geheimrath Pro- 

 fessor Doktor Carl Gegenbaur (to give him his full title) were pleasant 

 enough, but, soon after I had settled down to work, the trouble began. 

 There were but three of us in the laboratory. Boas, a Dane, who has 

 occupied for many years a distinguished position in Copenhagen, 

 Gadow, a Ph. D. of Jena, and myself. It was Gegenbaur 's habit to come 



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