178 LOUIS AGASSTZ, 



make a surrender of all his materials in my 

 favor. I foresaw clearly that this was my 

 only chance of competing with him, and it 

 was not without reason that I insisted so 

 strongly on having Dinkel with me in pass- 

 ing through Strasbourg and subsequently at 

 Carlsruhe. Had I not done so, M. Cuvier 

 might still be in advance of me. Now my 

 mind is at rest on this score ; I have already 

 written you all about his kindness in offering 

 me the work. Could I only be equally for- 

 tunate in its publication ! 



M. Cuvier urges me strongly to present my 

 book to the Academy, in order to obtain a 

 report upon its contents. I must first finish 

 it, however, and the task is not a light one. 

 For this reason, above all, I regret my want 

 of means ; but for that I could have the draw- 

 ings made at once, and the Academy report, 

 considered as a recommendation, would cer- 

 tainly help on the publication greatly. But 

 in this respect I have long been straitened; 

 Auguste knows that I had at Munich an art- 

 ist who was to complete what I had left there 

 for execution, and that I stopped his work on 

 leaving Concise. If the stagnation of the 

 book-trade continues I shall, perhaps, be forced 

 to give up Dinkel also ; for if I cannot be- 



