1858-64.] SAMUEL II. SCUDDER. 97 



"... The fourth day a second fish of the same group was 

 placed beside the first, and I was bidden to point out the resem- 

 blances and differences between the two ; another and another fol- 

 lowed, until the entire family lay before me, and a whole legion of 

 jars covered the table and surrounding shelves. The odour had 

 become a pleasant perfume ; and even now the sight of an old six- 

 inch, worm-eaten cork brings fragrant memories. 



"... Agassiz's training, in the method of observing facts and 

 their orderly arrangement, was ever accompanied by the urgent 

 exhortation not to be contented with them. 



Facts are stupid things,' he would say, -until brought into 

 connection with some general law.' 



' At the end of eight months, it was almost with reluctance that 

 I left these friends and turned to insects ; but what I had gained 

 by this outside experience has been of greater value than years of 

 later investigation in my favourite group." 



Agassiz delivered lectures twice or three times a 

 week before his students. It was the custom at the 

 Museum for every one, assistants, as well as pupils and 

 friends, to attend. His wife was always present, taking 

 notes most faithfully of all that he said. Never was 

 there such a devoted secretary. The numerous public 

 lectures in America, delivered during fifteen years before 

 large audiences, exerted an influence easy to perceive. 

 His explanations were clear, right to the point, never 

 too scientific, and, as far as possible, in untechnical 

 words. But he wanted applause, and even courted it, 

 with great skill. Like an actor on the stage, he would 

 pause at the end of a sentence, in order to allow 

 time for applause. His lectures then and after took 

 more the form of addresses than ordinary expositions 

 of scientific questions. He always interested his audi- 



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