176 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



fill some fifty great cases. It is this which 

 compels me to stay here till I have finished 

 my work. I should add that M. £lie de Beau- 

 mont has also been kind enough to place at 

 my disposition the fossil fishes from the col- 

 lection at the Mining School, and that M. 

 Brongniart has made me the same offer re- 

 garding his collection, which is one of the 

 finest among those owned by individuals in 

 Paris. . . . 



As to my collections, I had already thought 

 of asking either the Vaudois government or 

 the city of Neuchatel to receive them into 

 the Museum, merely on condition that they 

 should provide for the expenses of exhibi- 

 tion and preservation, making use of them, 

 meanwhile, for the instruction of the public. 

 I should be sorry to lose all right to them, 

 because I hope they may have another final 

 destination. I do not despair of seeing the 

 different parts of Switzerland united at some 

 future day by a closer tie, and in case of such 

 a union a truly Helvetic university would be- 

 come a necessity ; then, my aim would be to 

 make my collection the basis of that which 

 they would be obliged to found for their 

 courses of lectures. It is really a shame that 

 Switzerland, richer and more extensive than 



