WOMEN AS INSPIRERS 379 



other, an intense power of sympathy, a generous love .of 

 giving themselves to the service of others, which enabled 

 them to transfuse the force of their own personality into 

 the objects to which they dedicated their powers. 



In the preface of the joint work of Mr. and Mrs. Agassiz 

 entitled A Journey in Brazil, that delightful volume which 

 throws such a flood of light on the fauna and flora of the 

 Amazon valley, occur the following significant words re- 

 garding the share each had in producing the book : ' ' Our 

 separate contributions have become so closely interwoven 

 that we should hardly know how to disconnect them. ' ' So 

 was it with all their undertakings. There was the same 

 common interest, the same unity of purpose, the same 

 unselfish devotion to the cause of science during those long 

 years of toil which were so prolific in results of supreme 

 importance. Eeading between the lines in A Journey in 

 Brazil, and in Louis Agassiz, His Life and Correspondence, 

 written by Mrs. Agassiz, we can easily fancy that the great 

 naturalist owed as much, if not more, to his wife's never- 

 failing sympathy and inspiration as to her active coopera- 

 tion in his work, and we are ready to apply to her the 

 words of Longfellow when he sings: 



"And whenever the way seemed long, 



Or his heart began to fail, 

 She would sing a more wonderful song 

 Or tell a more wonderful tale." 



As to Caroline Herschel as a helper and sustainer of her 

 illustrious brother, too much cannot be said. "In the days 

 when he gave up a lucrative career that he might devote 

 himself to astronomy, it was owing to her thrift and care 

 that he was not harassed by the rankling vexations of 

 money matters. She had been his helper and assistant 

 when he was a leading musician; she became his helper 

 and assistant when he gave himself up to astronomy. By 

 sheer force of will and devoted affection she learned enough 



