72 LOUIS AGASSIZ 



conviction that he was on the right 

 track, and to-day the world acknowl- 

 edges that he was right and it was 

 wrong. 



The six summers from 1838 to 1843 he 

 spent in the Alps, following far and wide 

 the hieroglyphics written by past gla- 

 ciers, and then turning his attention to 

 the constitution and action of glaciers as 

 they are to-day. A permanent station 

 was established on the glacier of the 

 Aar. A large, overhanging boulder of 

 the medial moraine just below the junc- 

 tion of two glaciers was transformed into 

 a rude hut, and christened the Hotel 

 des Neuch&telois ; and its name was soon 

 known throughout Europe. Here, in 

 cold and privation and -enthusiastic 

 happiness, Agassiz and his crew spent 

 their vacations. Long afterwards it was 

 a saying in Cambridge that no overcoat 

 was necessary when passing Agassiz' s 

 house, such a genial warmth of good 

 will glowed from its very windows. And 



