26 LOUIS AGASSIZ. [CHAP. n. 



doms into which he divided all living beings ; he was 

 not instructed then either in palaeontology or in geology, 

 the two branches of science in which he became after- 

 ward preeminent. The only teacher he ever had 

 in those two sciences was Professor H. G. Bronn at 

 Heidelberg, a rather second-rate palaeontologist, but a 

 very industrious and prolific writer. 



Although Agassiz came to Munich for the special 

 purpose of taking the degree of doctor of medicine, 

 his studies soon drifted from those of a medical student 

 to those of a true naturalist. This change was not 

 made without warnings from his father, who became 

 alarmed by the rather large expenses incurred by his 

 son, 1 and more so by his neglect of his medical studies. 

 But Louis Agassiz was born a naturalist, and a 

 naturalist he must be ; and, notwithstanding all sorts of 

 difficulties, with the help of his mother, who always 

 favoured his desires, he carried through his scheme of 

 seeking a professorship of natural history. 



His first step, in regard to graduation, was to secure not 

 a title of medical doctor and surgeon, but of doctor of 

 philosophy, which he won, in the spring of 1829, at the 

 University of Erlangen. The excuse for so doing was a 



1 Agassiz's good heart had already, when at Heidelberg, led him to 

 help, pecuniarily, Karl Schimper, and as soon as established at Munich, he 

 sent Schimper money to pay the expense of his journey, and invited him 

 to join them in their lodging. Schimper not only came directly, but 

 brought with him his brother William. Agassiz's income was henceforth, 

 on this account, limited in proportion. It must now suffice for the main- 

 tenance of a friend; for as soon as Schimper arrived, Agassiz gave him 

 the key of his chest in which was his money; and, during the three years 

 of his stay at Munich, he, in fact, gave to Schimper the means to satisfy all 

 his needs a rare example of generosity. 



