208 LOUIS AGASSIZ. [CHAP. vin. 



The immense " nappe" of ice covering the earth, its 

 breaking by the upheaval of the Alps, etc., seem the 

 theoretical views of a dreamer, and are entirely at vari- 

 ance with the excellent and remarkable observations on 

 the power of glaciers to carry boulders, and their great 

 extension during the Quaternary epoch. But it was a 

 special characteristic of Agassiz's mind, which was 

 intensified by the teaching of his great master Cuvier, 

 seldom to acknowledge an error, but on the contrary 

 to try by all means to maintain his position. He re- 

 peatedly made mistakes in dealing with other savants, 

 and also in the too hasty generalizations which he 

 sometimes put forward in natural history. I do not 

 hesitate to attribute these weak points in Agassiz's 

 character to the influence of the author of the " Ana- 

 tomie Comparee," an influence which, if profitable on 

 many accounts, was sometimes much to be regretted. 

 At all events, Cuvier's influence was profound, and 

 among many things that Agassiz learned in his labora- 

 tory, was one of his most pronounced faults, the author- 

 itative and tyrannical attitude of the master, unable to 

 accept a contradiction, or to abandon an idea, when 

 once promulgated and in print. 



The polemic with Karl Schimper was unfortunate, 

 because Schimper was no longer responsible. Like all 

 persons suffering from mental disorder, he thought he 

 had discovered all that he had heard in regard to the 

 glaciers and the glacial question during his long visits 

 at Bex and at Neuchatel, and he treated very slightingly 

 Venetz, Charpentier, and Agassiz ; he attributed to him- 

 self the lion's share, when he was only a poetical echo, 



