AGASSIZ TO HUMBOLDT. 189 



my dear mother that you may understand my 

 whole position. My parents will now readily 

 consent that I should devote myself entirely to 

 science, and I am freed from the distressing 

 thought that I may be acting contrary to their 

 wishes and their will. But they have not the 

 means to help me, and had proposed that I 

 should return to Switzerland and give lessons 

 either in Geneva or Lausanne. I had already 

 resolved to follow this suggestion in the course 

 of next summer, and had also decided to part 

 with Mr. Dinkel, my faithful companion, as 

 soon as he should have finished the most in- 

 dispensable drawings of the fossils on which 

 he is now engaged here. I meant to tell you 

 of this on Sunday, and now to-day comes your 

 letter. Imagine what must have been my feel- 

 ing, after having resolved on renouncing what 

 till now had seemed to me noblest and most 

 desirable in life, to find myself unexpectedly 

 rescued by a kind, helpful hand, and to have 

 again the hope of devoting m^ whole powers 

 to science, you can judge of the state into 

 which your letter has thrown me. . . . 



Soon after this event Agassiz made a short 

 excursion with Braun and Dinkel to the coast 

 of Normandy ; worth noting, because he now 



