146 LOUIS AGASSIZ 



with a single sweep of the chalk drew 

 the faultless outline of an egg, it seemed 

 impossible that anything could be amiss 

 with the hand or the brain that were so 

 steady and so clear. 



" The end, nevertheless, was very near. 

 Although he dined with friends the next 

 day, and was present at a family festival 

 that week, he spoke of a dimness of 

 sight and of feeling < strangely asleep. ' 

 On the 6th he returned early from the 

 Museum, complaining of great weari- 

 ness, and from that time he never left 

 his room. Attended in his illness by his 

 friends, Dr. Brown-Sequard and Dr. 

 Morrill Wyman, and surrounded by his 

 family, the closing week of his life was 

 undisturbed by acute suffering and full 

 of domestic happiness. Even the voices 

 of his brother and sisters were not wholly 

 silent, for the wires that thrill with so 

 many human interests brought their 

 message of greeting and farewell across 

 the ocean to his bedside. The thoughts 



