546 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



the sea who came to give Christmas greeting 

 to the master of the house. Gay pilgrims were 

 these six " gaillards," and they were accompa- 

 nied by the following note : — 



" A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

 to all the house of Agassiz ! 



" I send also six good wishes in the shape of 

 bottles. Or is it wine ? 



" It is both ; good wine and good wishes, 

 and kind memories of you on this Christmas 

 Eve." H. W. L. 



An additional word aboulj- the " Saturday 

 Club/' the fame of which has spread beyond 

 the city of its origin, may not be amiss here. 

 Notwithstanding his close habits of work Agas- 

 siz was eminently social, and to this club he 

 was especially attached. Dr. Holmes says of 

 it in his volume on Emerson, who was one of 

 its most constant members : "At one end of the 

 table sat Longfellow, florid, quiet, benignant, 

 soft-voiced, a most agreeable rather than a 

 brilliant talker, but a man upon whom it was 

 always pleasant to look, — whose silence was 

 better than many another man's conversation. 

 At the other end sat Agassiz, robust, sanguine, 

 animated, full of talk, boy-like in his laughter. 

 The stranger who should have asked who were 

 the men ranged along the sides of the table 



