THE BIOGRAPHY OF AGASSIZ 183 



Moreover, at this time she had many family cares out- 

 side of her own roof, was taking German lessons, and be- 

 fore the biography was completed had formed her connec- 

 tion with the "Harvard Annex." The book was therefore 

 only incidental to a life of many claims. At one time she 

 hired a room in a house in Felton Street, not far from her 

 own, in order to have a place where she might write in abso- 

 lute privacy. Her habits of early rising and of working be- 

 fore breakfast gave her an advantage ; in fact, not requiring 

 much sleep she used often on waking in the night to read or 

 write as she was disposed, and she habitually kept by her 

 bedside the appliances for making tea, so that whenever 

 she woke she might have a cup of tea before proceeding to 

 her work, without regard to the time. Upon these hours be- 

 fore the rest of the household was stirring she relied for the 

 accomplishment of her task. In the summer of 1877, for 

 instance, she made the following entries in her diary at Na- 

 hant: — ''July 10. Worked from six to eight a.m." — *'July 

 11. Worked before breakfast." — '*July 12. No work after 

 eight o'clock." — ''July 23. Up at five ; worked till half -past 

 seven o'clock. Took eight o'clock boat; various errands in 

 town. Returned at ten by narrow gauge railroad. Settled at 

 work by twelve o'clock. Pauline and Quin came down in the 

 afternoon." "My work is again at a stand-still," she wrote 

 to a friend, " but I am ready to thank God that life is so full 

 of close and tender ties that we are constantly drawn aside 

 to minister to each other." It is not strange that at least 

 eight years elapsed between the commencement of the 

 book and its pubhcation, although, as is seen from a letter 

 quoted below, there was additional reason in Mrs. Agas- 

 siz's judgment for a certain degree of delay. The work 

 was executed with characteristic care, and the manuscript 



