546 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



the sea who came to give Christmas greeting 

 to the master of the house. Gay pilgrims were 

 these six " gaillards," and they were accompa- 

 nied by the following note : 



" A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 

 to all the house of Agassiz ! 



" I send also six good wishes in the shape of 

 bottles. Or is it wine ? 



a It is both ; good wine and good wishes, 

 and kind memories of you on this Christmas 

 Eve." H. W. L. 



An additional word about the " Saturday 

 Club," the fame of which has spread beyond 

 the city of its origin, may not be amiss here. 

 Notwithstanding his close habits of work Agas- 

 siz was eminently social, and to this club he 

 was especially attached. Dr. Holmes says of 

 it in his volume on Emerson, who was one of 

 its most constant members : "At one end of the 

 table sat Longfellow, florid, quiet, benignant, 

 soft-voiced, a most agreeable rather than a 

 brilliant talker, but a man upon whom it was 

 always pleasant to look, whose silence was 

 better than many another man's conversation. 

 At the other end sat Agassiz, robust, sanguine, 

 animated, full of talk, boy-like in his laughter. 

 The stranger who should have asked who were 

 the men ranged along the sides of the table 



