662 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



down the Mississippi, turning off through 

 Kansas to the eastern branch of the Pacific 

 Railroad, at the terminus of which they were 

 to meet General Sherman with ambulances 

 and an escort for conveyance across the coun- 

 try to the Union Pacific Railroad, returning 

 then by Denver, Utah, and Omaha, and across 

 the State of Iowa to the Mississippi once more. 

 This journey was of great interest to Agas- 

 siz, and its scientific value was heightened by 

 a subsequent stay of nearly two months at 

 Ithaca, N. Y., on his return. Cornell Univer- 

 sity was then just opened at Ithaca, and he 

 had accepted an appointment as non-resident 

 professor, with the responsibility of delivering 

 annually a course of lectures on various sub- 

 jects of natural history. New efforts in behalf 

 of education always attracted him, and this 

 drew him with an even stronger magnet than 

 usual, involving as it did an untried experi- 

 ment the attempt, namely, to combine the 

 artisan with the student, manual labor with 

 intellectual work. The plan was a generous 

 one, and stimulated both pupils and teachers. 

 Among the latter none had greater sympathy 

 with the high ideal and broad humanity of the 

 undertaking than Agassiz. 1 



1 Very recently a memorial tablet has been placed in the 



