94 NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER 



men of engaging presence and ways, but I have never known 

 his equal. 



As the personal quality of Agassiz was the greatest of his 

 powers, and as my life was greatly influenced by my immediate 

 and enduring affection for him, I am tempted to set forth some 

 incidents which show that my swift devotion to my new-found 

 master was not due to the accidents of the situation or to any 

 boyish fancy. I will content myself with one of those stories, 

 which will of itself show how easily he captivated men, even 

 those of the ruder sort. Some years after we came together, 

 when indeed I was formally his assistant, I believe it was in 

 1866, he became much interested in the task of comparing the 

 skeletons of thoroughbred horses with those of common stock. 

 I had at his request tried, but without success, to obtain the 

 bones of certain famous stallions from my acquaintances among 

 the racing men in Kentucky. Early one morning there was a 

 fire, supposed to be incendiary, in the stables in the Beacon 

 Park track, a mile from the College, in which a number of horses 

 had been killed and many badly scorched. I had just returned 

 from the place, where I had left a mob of irate owners and 

 jockeys in a violent state of mind, intent on finding some one 

 to hang. I had seen the chance of getting a valuable lot of 

 stallions for the museum, but it was evident that the time was 

 most inopportune for suggesting such a disposition of the re- 

 mains. Had I done so, the results would have been, to say the 

 least, unpleasant. 



As I came away from the profane lot of horse-men gathered 

 about the ruins of their fortunes or their hopes, I met Agassiz 

 almost running to seize the chance of specimens. I told him to 

 come back with me, that we must wait until the mob had spent 

 its rage ; but he kept on. I told him further that he risked spoil- 

 ing his good chance, and finally that he would have his head 

 punched ; but he trotted on. I went with him, in the hope that 

 I might protect him from the consequences of his curiosity. 

 When we reached the spot, there came about a marvel; in a 



