142 LOUIS AGASSIZ. [CHAP. vn. 



Agassiz, from the start of his lithographic establish- 

 ment, under the direction of H. Nicolet, was very 

 anxious to procure works sufficient to keep it running all 

 the time, without too great pecuniary loss. His inten- 

 tion was good, and he began the two translations in 

 French and German with the hope of helping that 

 numerous class of observers of limited means on the 

 continent of Europe, to whom Sowerby's original Eng- 

 lish edition was inaccessible on account of its great cost. 

 I myself saw a few years after, when Agassiz's transla- 

 tions were hardly finished, how useful they were to 

 French and German geologists, and they really helped 

 the progress of science in Central Europe. The only 

 error, and it was inexcusable, was his undertaking the 

 work without having previously obtained permission 

 from the two sons of Sowerby, who wrote the principal 

 part of the text, and finally engraved also the plates, 

 after the death of their father in 1822. Pecuniarily the 

 enterprise was a great loss to Agassiz, for after a few 

 years, Nicolet failed, and Agassiz had to take the whole 

 business into his own hands. Neither of the transla- 

 tions sold well, and other more important works on the 

 palaeontology of France and Germany soon appeared 

 and blocked the way. Among these were the " Paleon- 

 tologie frangaise," by Alcide d'Orbigny, and the " Petre- 

 factenkunde von Deutsland," by Quenstedt, which not 

 only attracted attention, but from the start were pay- 

 ing works, - - a mark of success which was never to be 

 granted to Agassiz during his stay in Europe. After- 

 wards Agassiz very seldom referred to these two trans- 

 lations; it was a painful subject, and he confessed that 



