148 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



bird it contained, as I could not afford to buy 

 even a text-book of ornithology. I also copied 

 with my own hand, having no means of pur- 

 chasing the work, two volumes of Lamarck's 

 ' Animaux sans Vertebres,' and my dear 

 brother copied another half volume for me. I 

 finally learned that the study of the things 

 themselves was far more attractive than the 

 books I so much coveted ; and when, at last, 

 large libraries became accessible to me, I usu- 

 ally contented myself with turning over the 

 leaves of the volumes on natural history, look- 

 ing at the illustrations, and recording the ti- 

 tles of the works, that I might readily con- 

 sult them for identification of such objects as 

 I should have an opportunity of examining in 

 nature. 



" After spending in this way two years in 

 Zurich, I was attracted to Heidelberg by the 

 great reputation of its celebrated teachers, 

 Tiedemann, Leuckart, Bronn, and others. It 

 is true that I was still obliged to give up a 

 part of my time to the study of medicine, but 

 while advancing in my professional course by a 

 steady application to anatomy and physiology, 

 I attended the lectures of Leuckart in zoology, 

 and those of Bronn in paleontology. The pub- 

 lication of Goldf uss's great work on the fossils 



