122 LOUIS AGASSIZ. [CHAP. vi. 



apprehension by all his family and his best friends. 

 But it was useless to oppose Agassiz ; he would listen 

 to nothing and to no one. Science was paramount with 

 him ; everything else was of little consequence. He 

 was born to give great impetus to natural history ; and 

 all his life he was absolutely devoted to it. Desor saw 

 this very quickly, and took advantage of it. Science 

 and friends working in the same field were everything. 

 " Agassiz et ses amis," or "Agassiz et ses compagnons 

 de voyages," became supreme. It was an unfortunate 

 day for the future of Agassiz when Desor entered his 

 service. From that time until he left Neuchatel, in 

 1846, during nine years, expenses increased, until a 

 complete collapse came as the inevitable consequence. 

 Instead of being encouraged to expend more and more, 

 Agassiz, on the contrary, ought to have been constantly 

 restrained, on account of his too great propensity to 

 throw money in all directions, even when it was not 

 absolutely necessary. It was difficult to stop him, it is 

 true ; but repeated representations, accompanied by the 

 warnings constantly poured into his ears by all the 

 members of his family, Alexander Braun included, and 

 all his best friends, might have resulted in restriction 

 instead of constant expansion. 



The Academy of Lausanne, after conferring on Agas- 

 siz the title of honorary professor, offered him, in 1838, 

 a chair of active professor. Pressure was exerted by 

 some of Agassiz's kindred, all Vaudois, - - for the Can- 

 ton de Vaud is the \x\\o. patria (fatherland) of the Agas- 

 siz, but in vain. He had cast in his lot with Neu- 



