106 ALEXANDER AGASSIZ 



TO MRS. LOUIS AGASSIZ 



Wurzburg, July 8, 1870. 



I was not very lucky in Heidelberg, found no one 

 at home. Helmholtz was attending a funeral and had 

 left for the day, and Pagenstecher was also absent for 

 a couple of days, so I got nothing here except a very 

 pleasant excursion to the Castle and the Hills (all by 

 myself, however), and in the evening started for Wurz- 

 burg, where I found Professor Semper waiting for me, 

 who insisted on my going to his house. You know he 

 spent seven years collecting at the Philippine Islands 

 and spent there most of his property, and is now satis- 

 fied to pass the rest of his life as Professor in a German 

 University and to work up what he has collected, which 

 is certainly magnificent. If Mr. Lowell is in want of 

 somebody for a really good course of lectures of travels, 

 he could not do better than to invite him to come and 

 give a course ; he speaks English well enough to read 

 his lectures, which his wife would brush up ; she speaks 

 very nicely, and I think he would be a success. 



I dined to-day at Kolliker's. I must say I liked him 

 very much ; he strikes me as a most thorough and able 

 man. He looks quite comical; his hair is perfectly white 

 with a thick black moustache ; you would hardly give 

 him 40 from his face. I saw also at the Knipe last 

 night, Professor Sachs, the Professor of Botany, and 

 one of the smartest chaps I have seen yet. This morn- 

 ing I have been to see Professor Sandberger, who has 

 some very fine fossils from the Trias ; he has a good 

 many duplicates and he will make us an invoice shortly. 

 Here I see the true German way of living perhaps as 

 well as I have yet seen it. The few evenings thus far 



