134 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



ent he will tell you that he longs for 

 nature study but cannot get his asjistants 

 to teach it. Talk with many a family 

 moving from the city to the country 

 and they will tell you that they want 

 to get all possible benefit from living 

 near to nature, but do not know how. 

 Talk with bright-eyed boys and girls 



PORTRAIT OF LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



(Presented to The Agassiz Association by his 

 grandson, R. L. Agassiz.) 



Unquestionably Agassiz was the greatest 

 teacher of science the world has seen. The 

 faculty of conveying information and enthus- 

 ing the recipient with ardour was inborn. — 

 Professor Frederick Holder in his "Life of 

 Louis Agassiz." The opening words of a chap- 

 ter explaining that The Agassiz Association 

 is the great teacher's living memorial. 



The Agassiz Association has been for 

 thirty-nine years and will be forever the great- 

 est monument to Louis Agassiz. There is at 

 Cambridge, Massachusetts, a great museum 

 that bears his name, upon which many thou- 

 sands of dollars have been expended by mem- 

 bers of the family, the state, and others. Dried 

 and bottled specimens do not and cannot rep- 

 resent Louis Agassiz, the great teacher, but 

 rather his son, Alexander Agassiz, the col- 

 lector and technical investigator. 



Louis Agassiz even disliked the museum 

 and wrote in 1868: "As far as 1 am con- 

 cerned personally, the Museum is of very little 

 use to me, as 1 believe in study ex natura, 

 and have but little fancy for closet investiga- 

 tions where you get long Memoirs about ani- 



mals which have never been seen living or 

 in state of nature by the author." 



Alexander Agassiz loved the museum and 

 devoted to it most persistent, prolonged labor 

 and thousands of dollars. It is fittingly his 

 monument. Louis Agassiz, the world's great- 

 est teacher lives not in the dead things of 

 museums but in the living, enthusiastic 

 hearts of men and women, boys and girls who 

 study nature. 



George R. Agassiz has well stated : 



"The elder Agassiz, buoyant and robust, 

 loved appreciation, was fond of teaching, and 

 had a genius for stimulating his students. 

 . . . Alexander, retiring and reserved, had 

 no gift or desire to excite popular interest; he 

 hated notoriety, disliked teaching, and while 

 his activities extended over many fields, his 

 intellectual life was devoted to research. The 

 essential differences between the two men may 

 be suggested in the statement that one was 

 temperamentally a great teacher and the other 

 a great investigator." 



The question is, Shall the teacher have as 

 efficient and extensive a monument to his 

 love of humankind as the investigator has to 

 his love of specimens. 



and you will find them inquisitive as 

 to the objects of nature. They need 

 help and some one to help them. 

 These needs ArcAdiA and the AA 

 purpose more completely to supply 

 than they have hitherto been able to 

 do. 



Some of our friends who know only 

 the equipment think that ArcAdiA is 

 a place for only experimental science. 

 Other friends who know only the 

 magazine think that ArcAdiA is only 

 a publishing house. Some who occa- 

 sionally come here for pleasure think 

 it is only a picnic ground. We might 

 continue to give a list of the various 

 isolated views and opinions each cor- 

 rect in itself, but falling far short of a 

 true representation of the whole. We 

 have grown rapidly within two years, 

 becoming far more efficient in every 

 respect, and now we appeal to our 

 friends for ten thousand dollars with 

 which to complete the plant and to en- 

 gage assistants. A hundred thousand 

 could be used to good advantage, but 

 we are willing to demonstrate what 

 can be done with one-tenth of that 

 amount. We ask investigation. Come 

 and examine any and every phase of 

 ArcAdiA, look at the ideal location, 

 the equipment efficient so far as we 

 have gone, investigate the bookkeep- 

 ing, ascertain where the money comes 

 from and where it goes. 



The ideals and achievements merit 

 strong financial support. 



