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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



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AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION' 



Established 1875 Incorporated, Massachusetts, 1S'.I_> Incorporated, Connecticut, 1910 



Our Names and their Significance. 



The Agassiz Association : This name- 

 was selected by our first President, 

 Mr. Harlan H. Ballard of Pittsfield, 

 Massachusetts, at the founding in 1875. 

 He states in the AA's handbook, 

 "Three Kingdoms," as follows : 



"Not many of you need be told why 

 we have named our Society ThK 

 Agassiz Association. There are few 

 that have not heard something of the 

 life and work of that famous man — so 

 universally honored and beloved — Pro- 

 fessor Louis Agassiz. In 1846 the 

 great Naturalist left his native Swit- 

 zerland, made America his home, ac- 

 cepted a Professorship at Harvard 

 College, and built up the greatest 

 school of Natural History in this coun- 

 try. Though one of the most learned, 

 he was also one of the most devout 

 and gentle of men. 



"Mrs. Agassiz, the widow of Louis 

 Agassiz, and Professor Alexander 

 Agassiz, his son, lend their cordial ap- 

 proval to our society and its work, 

 and have very kindly given us permis- 

 sion to use the father's name." 



So our Agassiz Association means 

 the enthusiastic, sincere, reverential 

 observation and study of nature — both 

 popular and technical — in all of which 

 we are the followers of the great 

 Agassiz himself. 



The AA: This is the "pet" name- 

 not a mere abbreviation — applied to 

 the Association by the present Presi- 

 dent. He urges all Members and 

 friends to write and print it AA, with- 

 out space or periods, because of its 

 emblematic significance. As A is the 

 first letter, so The Agassiz Associa- 

 tion is the first organization in this 

 country (patterned on a similar one in 

 Switzerland, Professor Agassiz's na- 

 tive land) to study nature in this wide, 

 embracing enthusiastic manner. The 



doubling of a letter always means, as 

 a title of designation extra quality. But 

 chiefly we value and commend the AA 

 because of its monogramic use in the 

 word Arcadia — the name of The Agas- 

 siz Association's Home. 



Arcadia : This takes its name from 

 the Grecian Arcadia (not the Nova 

 Scotian Arcadie, as some persist in 

 thinking). The term has always been 

 a favorite one with pastoral poets and 

 writers, and signifies all nature. Orig- 

 inally it was pervaded by the spirit of 

 Pan, who was so named by the other 

 gods because he was the god of all 

 nature, "the child of heaven and earth." 

 The Agassiz Association is for the 

 study of all nature, and Arcadia is the 

 Plome of all nature. Our beloved AA 

 is the beginning and the center, the 

 center and the end, and the begin- 

 ning and the end of ArcAdiA. In fact, 

 the principle of The Agassiz Associa- 

 tion, "Study nature, not books," is the 

 corner stone of Arcadia. To study na- 

 ture is our constant aim and end ; it 

 penetrates through essentials to the 

 center of all our work. 



Nymphalia is the name given to a 

 part of our new Arcadia. It designates 

 a delightful meadow, marsh and pool, 

 gift-leased by the New York, New 

 Haven and Hartford Railroad Com- 

 pany to The Agassiz Association for 

 the purpose of a park and for general 

 nature study. The Grecian Arcadia 

 was the home of the water nymphs and 

 the wood nymphs, and Nymphcca is the 

 name of the white water lily, the floral 

 emblem of The Agassiz Association. 

 Idle Nymphaxz are proverbial for their 

 beauty and fragrance, and have long 

 been regarded as an emblem of purity. 

 So Nymphalia may mean equally well 

 the home of the water nymphs and of 

 the water lilies. The water lilies 

 (Nympluca-) are to be cultivated in the 



