Year: 1874

are adjoining and in the former the noun
famous feather beds, under which the
people sleep summer and winter attract
our attention, us also the small Win
dows, which allow of but scanty ven
tilation There is no sign of book or
newspaper. or anything that indicates taste
or education 1t is Il life of toll which the
poor peasant leads relieved by very few
pleasures, and which in no way compares
with that of our commonest laborer i'll this
country Land here yields barely three
per cent. and while in our eastern and
middle States every village can boast of a
paper, an occasional public lecture or con-
cert, there is nothing here to change the
dull monotony of daily drudgery. The
men are drafted into the army for three
years of their life. which. though it re-
lieves them of their awkward clumsy
ways and rcvives the rudiments of their
learning, makes labor very scarce, and is
the cause that SO many women have to dc
hard field work, and appear more ignorant
than the men,


AGASSIZ WAS SINGULARLY UNMETHoDI.
CAL IN HIS HABITs.-Men who live ant
work by rule would be puzzled to under
stand how Agassiz managed to do so much
without these helps. He lived and work
ed by inspiration. If he was suddenly
seized with an interest in some scientific
inquiry, he would pursue it nj once put
ting by perhaps other work in which he
had Just fairly got started. = | always like
to take advantage ofmy productive moods,
he said to me- Thus often he had several
irons in the fire, only one of which might
ultimately be finished. Probably he saw
that the last iron promised to work W
better than the first. He never could lo
made to walk like machine. turning out
a definite quantity ut regular intervals.
He never felt bound to regard the rule that
You must finish one thing before Won begin
another, SO emphatically pres 'nted in tht
old school-bookS. His was Il method OF
working which would be ruinou~ to any
man who had not his wonderful faculties,
his far-sight and insight. With his great.
logical brain and his marvellous powers of
observation, there was united certain
telescope intuition which made his view
of probabilities something more than a
guess. He never proposed his own methods
of working rs Il model for others. Once
however. i'll my presence, a near relative
ventured to ask him ifhe did not think h
would accomplish more if he finished one
thing before he began another Every
man must work according to his owl
method" he replied. He WAS in himself d
great contradiction of the methods by
which many have won success. He achicv
ed but it was after his own WAY. II wa>
frequently a hard thing to get him to SIGN
paper. or write Il letter cNcrp. for some
body elSe), or to look over accounts OF r.
ports, or do little routine work lc. he
could never have attained his great cmi
nence in science if he had not paid in thi'
department greet attention to the minut"-i
and apparently the most insignificant de-
tails. Looking ut the dr.win" of Il ti~l
made by his artist, hc said, after taking 3;
single glance, " 1t j. a beautiful drawing
but don't YOU see You hrVr left ont two @!
three of the scales This story. which
have seen elsewhere, i vouchcd for by til,
draughtSman who formerly drew his ~prci
mems for him. BJ>'1H Lu1,r to Nfr lori
Iribaue.