170 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



it, inquired with some surprise why his com- 

 mission was neglected. Agassiz's next letter, 

 about a month later than the one to his uncle, 

 gives the explanation. 



TO HIS BROTHER. 



PARIS, March, 1832. 



. . . Here is the book for which you asked 

 me, price, 18 francs. I shall be very sorry 

 if it comes too late, but I could not help it. 

 . . . In the first place I had not money enough 

 to pay for it without being left actually penni- 

 less. You can imagine that after the fuel 

 bill for the winter is paid, little remains for 

 other expenses out of my 200 francs a month, 

 five louis of which are always due to my com- 

 panion. Far from having anything in ad- 

 vance, my month's supply is thus taken up at 

 once. . . . Beside this cause of delay, you 

 can have no idea what it is to hunt for any- 

 thing in Paris when you are a stranger there. 

 As I go out only in two or three directions 

 leading to my work, and might not otherwise 

 leave my own street for a month at a time, I 

 naturally find myself astray when I am off this 

 beaten track. . . . You have asked me sev- 

 eral times how I have been received by those 

 to whom I had introductions. Frankly, after 



