452 LOUIS AGASS1Z. 



have been very successful in collecting speci- 

 mens, especially in New York and Albany. 

 In Washington I have been delighted to see 

 the collections of the Exploring Expedition. 

 They entitle you to the highest thanks from 

 all scientific naturalists, and I hope it will be 

 also felt in the same manner by your country- 

 men at large. ... I long for the opportu- 

 nity of studying your fossil shells. As soon 

 as I have gone over my Lowell lectures I 

 hope to be able to move. I shall only pack 

 up what I have already collected ; but I can- 

 not yet tell you precisely the time. 



I began studying your " Zoophytes," but it 

 is so rich a book that I proceed slowly. For 

 years I have not learned so much from a 

 book as from yours. As I soon saw I would 

 not be able to go through in a short time, I 

 sent a short preliminary report to one of our 

 most widely diffused papers, " Preussische 

 Staats Zeitung," giving only the general im- 

 pression of your work, and I shall send to 

 Erichson a fuller scientific report after I have 

 done with the whole volume. 



As I happen to have a lithograph of the 

 original specimen of the Homo deluvii testis 

 of Scheuchzer, I will forward it to Professor 

 Silliman with this letter. I expect you will 



