CHAPTER III 



1860-1866 

 THE MUSEUM BECOMES HIS HEADQUARTERS 



On his return from California, Agassiz was appointed 

 "Agent" for the newly established Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology. For this position the salary, fifteen 

 hundred dollars a year, was given to the Museum by 

 Theodore Lyman, a pupil of Louis Agassiz and a class- 

 mate of his son. Thanks to this generosity, Agassiz 

 now found himself in a position to marry Anna Russell, 

 the daughter of George R. Russell, a well-known East 

 India merchant of Boston. 



The marriage took place in the fall of 1860 ; as the 

 bride's family was in Europe, the ceremony was cele- 

 brated in Brookline at the house of her sister, Mrs. 

 Theodore Lyman. Being too poor to have a home of 

 their own, the young couple started life with Professor 

 and Mrs. Agassiz in the Quincy Street house. These 

 early years of Agassiz's marriage, crowded with work, 

 were undoubtedly the happiest of his existence, for 

 always after that his life was clouded with ill-health 

 or sorrow, and most of the work of his later life was 

 accomplished under the shadow of both. 



Although obliged to practice the most rigid economy, 

 there was no shadow on his life then. He rejoiced in his 

 scientific work, and appreciated good company. Exist- 

 ence was simple in the sixties, and his tiny income 

 did not imply the restrictions it would now necessitate. 



