1839-40-] KARL VOGT. 149 



met with. Tall and very corpulent for his age, his 

 movements were rather heavy and somewhat awk- 

 ward. He was inclined to see the comical side of 

 everything, and his remarks were all tinged with rid- 

 icule. As soon as he entered Neuchatel, he was saluted 

 by the nickname "Le Moutz' : (Mutz in the dialect 

 of Berne), a popular character well known all over 

 Switzerland, and personifying the Bernese bear; and 

 the name clung to him during his five years' stay at 

 Neuchatel. 



Vogt's "bon mots" soon became proverbial, and 

 his laughter was very infectious; so much so that he 

 would have started a Quaker meeting into uproarious 

 merriment, and obliged a community of Trappists 

 to break their vows of eternal seriousness and self- 

 control. 



The reverse of the medal will appear by and by. For 

 the present Vogt made himself as amiable and accept- 

 able as possible. Desor, who was always imitating 

 some one or something, adopted the same attitude, and 

 pushed his desire to please so far, that he even accom- 

 panied Agassiz's mother to the place of worship, 

 quite an event for a proclaimed atheist. The German 

 language was used exclusively at table and in the 

 laboratory ; and to a visitor Agassiz's establishment at 

 this time of his life seemed a German settlement trans- 

 ferred into French Switzerland. 



Vogt describes his first meeting with Gressly in the 

 following manner: "During the fall (1839) Gressly 

 came. Great was my astonishment when I heard 



