8 The Life and Writings of Agassiz. 



those who know the value which the materials for a literary 

 work acquire in the eyes of an author, this incident of itself 

 will be sufficient proof that Cuvier's moral character was 

 equal to his intellectual power. From this moment Agassiz 

 continued on intimate terms with Cuvier's family, until the 

 death of that great man ; and we have heard him say, that 

 the happiest moments of his life were passed in Cuvier's 

 cabinet. 



After the death of Cuvier (1832), Agassiz returned to Swit- 

 zerland, hoping to obtain a professorship in some of the pub- 

 lic establishments of the Canton de Vaud. Being disap- 

 pointed in this, he accepted the invitation of some citizens of 

 Neufchatel, to establish himself in that city, where they were 

 preparing to reorganize the college. He was soon after ap- 

 pointed Professor of Natural History, a place which he filled 

 until his departure for the United States. 



Alexander Von Humboldt — who has enjoyed the rare privi- 

 lege of being able to assist so many men of talent — was 

 from the first the devoted friend of Agassiz ; and it was his 

 patronage that enabled our naturalist to commence in 1833, 

 so soon after his arrival in Switzerland, the publication of 

 his great work on Fossil Fishes, which he dedicated to Hum- 

 boldt, and of which we intend to say a few words, as of all 

 his works this made the greatest sensation ; and it is this 

 that obtained for him the eminent rank which he now holds 

 in the scientific world. 



This work consists of five volumes, with an atlas of about 

 four hundred folio plates, and comprises descriptions and 

 figures of nearly a thousand species of fossil fishes. All the 

 specimens are represented of the natural size, with the co- 

 lours of the bed from which they were taken. It was impos- 

 sible that so many new species should be made known with- 

 out rendering many alterations necessary in the science of 

 Ichthyology ; new types were established, and the affinities of 

 various groups and families to each other more clearly shown. 

 Moreover, Agassiz did not confine himself to establishing a 

 vast number of species, genera, and even families. Besides 

 this, he founded an entirely new classification, based princi- 

 pally on the importance of the fossil fishes. 



