Life in Cambridgi 



a palace for bugs." But the enthusiasm and faith 

 of Agassiz in the people of Massachusetts was not 

 misplaced, and the bill passed. 



After a short visit to Europe in the summer of 

 1859 Agassiz returned and witnessed the dedication 

 of the museum in i860. It so happened that in this 

 year the author of the present volume was an active 

 worker, for the pleasure of it, for the new museum, 

 and during a residence on the Florida reef, where 

 the author's father was stationed as an army surgeon, 

 thousands of specimens were collected and sent to 

 the Agassiz Museum. Many of the rare shells and 

 corals in the cabinets the author dived for in the 

 deep lagoons of the locality, bringing up also bright- 

 hued gorgonias, pink-lipped conchs, and other forms 

 which were sent North as best we could by sailing, 

 vessels that stopped here. Letters soon came from 

 Agassiz expressing delight at the variety of the forms, 

 with suggestions for research in new directions ; letters 

 that showed his great enthusiasm on all questions 

 appertaining to natural history. Some of the investi- 

 gations made here came as a surprise to Agassiz. 

 The latter requested Dr. J. B. Holder to observe if 

 possible the growth of corals. Dr. Holder was an 

 ardent naturalist, an admirer and disciple of Agassiz, 

 and the work was a labour of love. To better study 

 the corals a wall of dead concrete rock was built out 

 into the gulf, forming a tide-water aquarium through 

 which the water flowed and ebbed, and within this 

 were placed various marine forms which were to 

 be studied, among them the corals. Agassiz had 

 spent some time in this locality with Bache, and his 



