Waterston.] 226 [January 7, 



have appeared before the public only as a teacher of Natural 

 History. To-day, for the first time in my life, I leave a field 

 in which I am at home, to take upon myself the duties of a 

 biographer." 



Thus this Society had the privilege of inviting Professor 

 Agassiz to a duty (most nobly fulfilled), which without this 

 invitation in all probability he would never have entered 

 upon. That being, as he himself expressed it, the first time in 

 his life he had undertaken such a task ; it was also, as we 

 now know, destined to be the last. This event which, on 

 every account, had great interest, for these reasons possesses 

 a solemn and sacred import. That anniversary we would 

 keep in grateful remembrance, forming as it does, in connec- 

 tion with many reminiscences, an added and, may we not 

 say, an indissoluble tie between us and him. 



At the time when the invitation was extended to Prof. 

 Agassiz, he was overwhelmed with work ; while, by previous 

 labor, both body and mind had already been overtaxed. 

 Under such circumstances, it would have appeared next to 

 impossible for him to comply with the request of the Society, 

 yet so desirous was he to meet their wishes that he under- 

 took the task. 



On the 8th of June Mrs. Agassiz wrote : — 



" Though your letter touched and gratified me deeply, it 

 made me very anxious, too. I could almost have wished the 

 occasion had not arisen, for it alarms me to see the way in 

 which work accumulates upon Mr. Agassiz, whose health is 

 no longer so good as it used to be. 



" It seems as if it would be easy for him to talk of Hum- 

 boldt, and so, out of the fulness of his heart, it would ; but 

 on such an occasion, the address must include a very careful 

 review of all the facts of his life, of his relation to science 



