ADVICE FROM AGASSIZ 297 



delightful here, clear, crisp, and, though cold, not chilling. I walked all the 

 morning without needing an overcoat. The town is new and bare but full 

 of decent people and with a great promise for the future. There is a curious 

 absence of children. . . . 



LEADVILLE, COLORADO, Deo. 25, 1879. 



A merry Xmas to you and the children. I wish I could show you the view 

 from the window where I sit. We stayed over night at a mining-camp on 

 the hillside four hundred feet above Leadville. On the west the mountains 

 rise into the great range that parts the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific. 

 At their feet lies the plain of the upper Arkansas, and on its hither side the 

 concentrated squalor of this great camp where thirty thousand hungry, 

 eager mortals are scratching for wealth in these ancient hills. I was on the 

 mining-ground yesterday and am pleased with its prospect. Yet I do not 

 feel sure that McKay will come to a contract with the owners. . . . The 

 thermometer is 20 degrees below zero, the snow deep, and though the cold 

 does not bite as at home, it is hard to bear. My wits seem frozen in me. 

 I find it hard to fix my mind on work or hold impressions. 



Aside from his field work, the letters from Louis Agassiz, 

 extending over a great many years, throw additional light upon 

 his scientific work, and the variety of the demands which Mr. 

 Shaler met in connection with the organization and building up 

 of the Museum; also upon the whole-souled way in which he 

 labored to promote the interests of the institution. There were 

 occasions when he not only had his own hands full, but the 

 added responsibility of holding others up to the mark. In one of 

 his letters Agassiz writes, " Keep all these people busy ; make 

 the most of them by pushing them hard." Now and then there 

 is a fatherly word of warning lest he do too much. 



"... I beseech you," he says, "not to lend yourself towards 

 the College to more work of lecturing than you can well bear. 

 They are not likely in a hurry to relieve you of anything you 

 have once undertaken. Remember that I have had to go on 

 with zoology and geology together for more than twenty years, 

 and I am afraid too much teaching will interfere with your 

 own scientific progress. Therefore begin with the distinct 

 understanding with the President that you will not consider 



