336 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



and lovely woman. His daughters, much younger 

 than their brother, arrived from Europe the same 

 year. M. Christinot, though urged to remain, now 

 preferred to find another home, settled in New Or- 

 leans as pastor, and later died in Switzerland. 



The winter of 1851 was spent in the examina- 

 tion of the Florida reefs and keys, a work under- 

 taken at the request of Prof. A. D. Bache, at the 

 head of the United States Coast Survey. The 

 results were valuable in showing " how far the soil 

 now building up from accumulations of mud and 

 coral debris was likely to remain for a long time 

 shifting and uncertain, and how far and in what 

 localities it might be relied upon as affording a 

 stable foundation," for building lighthouses, etc. 

 Agassiz brought back for his museum a line collec- 

 tion of corals, of all varieties and in all stages of 

 growth, with drawings made on the spot ; from the 

 living animals. 



This year he accepted a professorship at the 

 medical college in Charleston, S. C., lecturing dur- 

 ing the three winter months, between his autumn 

 and spring courses at Cambridge. The overwork 

 finally resulted in a dangerous illness, and he was 

 obliged to discontinue it in 1853. The year previ- 

 ous he received the Prix Cuvier for his "Fossil 

 Fishes." His fond mother wrote : " This has 

 given me such happiness, dear Louis, that the tears 

 are in my eyes as I write it to you." 



HP now issued a circular asking for collections 

 of ibsiies i'roia various fresh-water systems of the 



