THE AGASSIZ SCHOOL 55 



so happy. . . . Mother and I arranged a quantity of 

 flowers in Father's library. She put a large inkstand 

 that she had bought for him, in the middle of that long 

 table, then on one side of it was a bunch of lilies of 

 the valley, on the other a vase of roses. Behind it was 

 a large dish of flowers and back of that was a large 

 bunch of flowers that Mr. Parkman had brought 

 Mother the evening before, with just fifty kinds of 

 flowers in it. Then on one of the tables near the 

 window there were three more dishes and one bunch. 

 It looked very pretty. 



A little later in the same year Agassiz declined an offer of 

 the chair of paleontology in the Museum of Natural His- 

 tory in Paris, preferring, as he said, " to build anew in Amer- 

 ica rather than to fight his way in the midst of the coteries 

 of Paris." An extract from a letter written by Mrs. Agassiz 

 to Mrs. Gary on this occasion is given here; it is striking 

 because of her complete silence as to any preference that 

 she may have had in regard to her husband's acceptance 

 or rejection of this enviable position. Her personal wishes 

 were entirely merged in his professional interests and re- 

 sponsibilities. 



TO MRS. THOMAS G. GARY 



Nahant, September 19, 1857 



I MUST tell you that yesterday Agassiz received a 

 letter which if it had come two years and a half ago 

 before the scheme for the book [Contributions to the 

 Natural History of the United States] and the school- 

 room was formed would have taken us out of this 



