496 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



(the "Hollow Tree"), an exquisitely pretty 

 and picturesque country place in the neigh- 

 borhood of Charleston. Here Agassiz had 

 been received almost as one of the family on 

 his first visit to Charleston, shortly after his 

 arrival in the United States. Dr. Holbrook's 

 name, as the author of the " Herpetology of 

 South Carolina/' had long been familiar to 

 him, and he now found a congenial and af- 

 fectionate friend in the colleague and fellow- 

 worker, whose personal acquaintance he had 

 been anxious to make. Dr. Holbrook's wife, 

 a direct descendant of John Rutledge of our 

 revolutionary history, not only shared her 

 husband's intellectual life, but had herself 

 rare mental qualities, which had been devel- 

 oped by an unusually complete and efficient 

 education. The wide and various range of 

 her reading, the accuracy of her knowledge 

 in matters of history and literature, and the 

 charm of her conversation, made her a de- 

 lightful companion. She exercised the most 

 beneficent influence upon her large circle of 

 young people, and without any effort to at- 

 tract, she drew to herself whatever was most 

 bright and clever in the society about her. 

 The " Hollow Tree," presided over by its 

 hospitable host and hostess was, therefore, 



