182 NATHANIEL SOUTHGATE SHALER 



was due to the marvellously swift way in which Agassiz accu- 

 mulated collections and books in the establishment. He was 

 blamed for his extravagance in these purchases, but it was a 

 wise policy. He bought the cabinets or libraries of several 

 workers, of which the most important were those of D. S. Brown. 

 His own library was rich, and there were many valuable things 

 in the College Library and that of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History. Brown's cabinet and collections brought from Cam- 

 peche by Lyell and others gave me larger resources to draw 

 upon than most workers have had, and, what was most import- 

 ant, I used them as freely as I could have done had they been 

 my own. In fact, I unpacked and arranged nearly all the fos- 

 sils which came to the Museum while I was rated as a student. 

 I was in effect curator of these stores. So, too, with books, we 

 rummaged them freely, and thereby got the habit of using 

 them as helpers. 



In our evenings it was a habit once a week to meet there 

 together, to take up some book outside of our main pursuit. 

 One would read and two take notes; at the next meeting, we 

 drew straws to determine who should give a summary of the 

 last week's reading. If in the opinion of the majority his task 

 was not well done, the delinquent was subject to a curious 

 fine, in that he was required to look up some subject in the 

 library and report upon it. In this way, we read in the course 

 of three years several important works. Of these I recall J. S. 

 Mill's "Logic," his "Political Economy," and Lyell's "Prin- 

 ciples of Geology." Of amusement we had not much, save the 

 one hour of frolic before bed at midnight. Now and then we 

 went to hear music. When I came to Cambridge I had a passion 

 for the theatre ; my father, being a wise man, told me to go as 

 often as I desired to, with the result that I went about every 

 night for a month, and afterward rarely, almost never, except 

 to see one of four actors, Edwin Booth, E. L. Davenport, Sal- 

 vini, and Charlotte Cushman. Except with such actors on the 

 stage, the theatres bored me insufferably then and ever since. 



