158 LOUIS AGASSrZ. [CH,\I. x.\. 



they thought a trial might be made. Agassiz may be 

 called one of the founders, but not the "prime mover." 

 Returning from Washington, after the act was passed 

 by Congress, Agassiz was certainly not an enthusiast 

 on the subject, and even showed a dislike to talk about 

 it, simply saying that "the National Academy was 

 mainly to satisfy Bache's ambition for control." A 

 friend told him that it would soon fall into the hands of 

 politico-savants, which he admitted might be true ; and, 

 in fact, a few years after the death of Bache, Agassiz, 

 and Henry, the National Academy of Science became, 

 as predicted, a tool in the hands of ambitious govern- 

 ment employees at Washington. 



In 1864, before Agassiz's journey to Brazil, Dr. 

 Brown-Sequard had taken up his residence at Cam- 

 bridge, as professor in the Medical School of Harvard ; 

 and a friendship based on mutual admiration soon 

 sprang up between them. After his return the rela- 

 tions became very close, and Agassiz urged Brown- 

 S6quard to go to Paris as the best place to prosecute 

 his physiological researches. He gave him very strong 

 recommendations, 11 advising the Minister of Public In- 

 struction to create a special professorship at the Medi- 

 cal School. Armed with these letters of Agassiz, Dr. 

 Brown-Sequard went to Paris at the end of 1867, and 

 was soon appointed professor of physiology in the 

 medical faculty, a new chair created in his favour ; and 

 later he succeeded the great physiologist, Claude Ber- 

 nard, at the "College de France" and at the Academy 

 of Science of the French National Institute. 



Some of Agassiz's pupils have already been refcnvd 



