276 



LAST YEARS IN ENGLAND. [Chap. VI. 



I entered my protest in the first B. A. Report ; but the evils 

 magnify. I almost want to bury myself among poor Lancashire 

 operatives, or Canada fugitive slaves, and smash up all shells ; 

 but it would not be honest. There is a chance of keeping West 

 Coast shells right, as Stimpson with East Coast ; and I ought to 

 do it, as I have studied them more than any one else. As to 

 Natural History in general, as compared with Physics, it must 

 be remembered that it bears on Life and Time ; while Physics 

 deal with dead force and space. It ought not therefore to be 

 overlooked; beside the old saying, that 6 Whatever it was 

 worth the Lord's while to make, it is worth our while to 

 study.' " 



His sister Mary wrote (February n, 1864) : " How sad that 

 such a tender heart as God has given you should be exiled 

 from human beings, who so much want such love ! . . . Scien- 

 tific work is very valuable and beautiful ; but there are many 

 who can do that : few the other. Do seek a location, where 

 the precious gifts God has given you may be used for His 

 children." We could not feel sorry that, in this summer, the 

 Warrington Museum Committee informed him that they re- 

 quired the room he occupied for a Reference Library : and 

 the Cairo Street Trustees asked him to set free the part of the 

 house he rented from them for his shells. Before finishing 

 these, he took a week's walking tour to the wilder parts of the 

 Lake district, with Robbie : and he completed his Report 

 (August 1, 1864). We find from it that " Three typical Series " 

 of his Reigen collection, similar to those presented to the 

 British Museum and to that at Albany, " were prepared for the 

 Museums of Paris, Berlin, and St. Petersburg, and offered on the 

 same terms, viz. that they should be arranged by the author, and 

 preserved intact for the free use of students ; but the donations 

 were severally declined by the respective Governments. They 

 have since been offered to the Museums of Harvard University, 

 Cambridge, Mass. ; # McGill University, Montreal, C.E. ; and 



# See the Report of the British Association for 1863, pp. 542, 543. 

 The Collection accepted by Mr. Agassiz for the Cambridge Museum was 

 declined, after his death, by his successor, on the ground of expense. 



i : V '• ; •'. ■■I 



