142 SCIENCE SKETCHES. 



pupil and associate, Susan Bowen. Professor 

 H. H. Straight and his bride, both then teachers 

 in the State Normal School at Oswego, were also 

 with us. These four, whom all of us loved and 

 respected, were the first of our number to be 

 claimed by death. 



Among our teachers, besides Agassiz, were Burt 

 G. Wilder, Edward S. Morse, Alfred Mayer, Fred- 

 erick W. Putnam, then young men of growing 

 fame, with Arnold Guyot and Count Pourtales, 

 early associates of Agassiz, already in the fulness 

 of years. Mrs. Agassiz was present at every lec- 

 ture, note-book in hand ; and her genial personality 

 did much to bind the company together. 



The old barn on the island had been hastily 

 converted into a dining-hall and lecture-room. A 

 new floor had been put in ; but the doors and walls 

 remained unchanged, and the swallows' nests were 

 undisturbed under the eaves. The sheep had been 

 turned out, the horse-stalls were changed to a 

 kitchen, and on the floor of the barn, instead of 

 the hay-wagon, were placed three long tables. At 

 the head of one of these sat Agassiz. At his right 

 hand always stood a movable blackboard, for he 

 seldom spoke without a piece of chalk in his hand. 

 He would often give us a lecture while we sat at 

 the table, frequently about some fish or other crea- 

 ture the remains of which still lay on our plates. 



Our second day upon the island was memorable 

 above all others. Its striking incident has passed 

 into literature in the poem of Whittier : " The 

 Prayer of Agassiz." 



When the morning meal was over, Agassiz arose 



