492 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



ceptable to hinij because it substituted a reg- 

 ular course of instruction to students, for the 

 disconnected lectures given to miscellaneous 

 audiences, in various parts of the country, by 

 which he was obliged to eke out his small 

 salary and provide for his scientific expenses. 

 While more fatiguing than class-room work, 

 these scattered lectures had a less educational 

 value, though, on the other hand, they awak- 

 ened a very wide-spread interest in the study 

 of nature. The strain of constant traveling 

 for this purpose, the more harassing because 

 so unfavorable to his habits of continuous 

 work, had already told severely upon his 

 health ; and from this point of view also the 

 new professorship was attractive, as promising 

 a more quiet, though no less occupied, life. 

 The lectures were to be given during the 

 three winter months, thus occupying the in- 

 terval between his autumn and spring courses 

 at Cambridge. 



He assumed his new duties at Charleston in 

 December, 1851, and by the kindness of his 

 friend Mrs. Rutledge, who offered him the 

 use of her cottage for the purpose, he soon 

 established a laboratory on Sullivan's Island, 

 where the two or three assistants he had 

 brought with him could work conveniently. 



