SERIOUS ILLNESS. 509 



nately for him his illness occurred at the " Hol- 

 low Tree/' where he was passing the Christmas 

 holidays. Dr. and Mrs. Holbrook were like 

 a brother and sister to him, and nothing could 

 exceed the kindness he received under their 

 roof. One young friend who had been his 

 pupil, and to whom he was much attached, 

 Dr. St. Julian Ravenel, was constantly at his 

 bedside. His care was invaluable, for he com- 

 bined the qualities of physician and nurse. 

 Under such watchful tending, Agassiz could 

 hardly fail to mend if cure were humanly pos- 

 sible. The solicitude of these nearer friends 

 seemed to be shared by the whole community, 

 and his recovery gave general relief. He was 

 able to resume his lectures toward the end of 

 February. Spite of the languor of convales- 

 cence his elastic mind was at once ready for 

 work, as may be seen by the following extract 

 from one of his first letters. 



TO JAMES D. DANA. 



SULLIVAN'S ISLAND, CHARLESTON, > 

 February 16, 1853. ) 



... It seems, indeed, to me as if in the 

 study of the geographical distribution of ani- 

 mals the present condition of the animal king- 

 dom was too exclusively taken into considera- 



