106 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



that I should describe the fishes brought back 

 by Spix from Brazil, and to this I consented 

 the more gladly because ichthyology has al- 

 ways been a favorite study with me. I have 

 not, however, been able to give them all the 

 care I could have wished, for M. de Martius, 

 anxious to complete the publication of these 

 works, has urged upon me a rapid execution. 

 I hope, nevertheless, that I have made no 

 gross errors, and I am the less likely to have 

 done so, because I had as my guide the ob- 

 servations you had kindly made for him on 

 the plates of Spix. Several of these plates 

 were not very exact ; they have been set aside 

 and new drawings made. I beg that you will 

 judge this work when it reaches you with in- 

 dulgence, as the first literary essay of a young 

 man. I hope to complete it in the course of 

 the next summer. I would beg you, in ad- 

 vance, to give me a paternal word of advice 

 as to the direction my studies should then 

 take. Ought I to devote myself to the study 

 of medicine ? I have no fortune, it is true ; 

 but I would gladly sacrifice my life if, by so 

 doing, I could serve the cause of science. 

 Though I have not even a presentiment of any 

 means with which I may one day travel in dis- 

 tant countries, I have, nevertheless, prepared 



