STUDENT DAYS 51 



honor, her relief was great. As a matter of fact, 

 on the day when the final Commencement exer- 

 cises culminated, with the presentation of degrees 

 to the men who graduated at Harvard University 

 in 1873, my friends told me that when President 

 Eliot read my name, he added the words, " In 

 Absentia." I was away in the woods studying 

 birds. 



During the last two months of this college year 

 a plan had developed for an innovation of an edu- 

 cational nature. The idea originated with Professor 

 N. S. Shaler. He wished to establish a summer 

 school for the study of natural history somewhere 

 on the Massachusetts coast, and I think had chosen 

 Nantucket or Muskeget Island as a base of oper- 

 ations. Professor Louis Agassiz, returning about 

 that time from a trip to South America, and hear- 

 ing of the project, indorsed it heartily, discussed 

 it at length with his many friends, with the ulti- 

 mate result that he was offered the privilege of 

 occupying an island known as " Penikese," in 

 Buzzard's Bay, one of the Elizabeth group. This 

 belonged to a gentleman named John Anderson, 

 and he not only granted the free use of the 

 island, but aided substantially in the erection of 

 buildings for the proposed school. In addition 

 a very fine schooner yacht was given by another 

 friend for dredging and fishing purposes. Let- 

 ters sent out to the different colleges, normal 



