14 Boston Society of Natural History 



History should be interwoven with the whole system of education 

 and should become one of its essential features. He was not only 

 a scientist of world-wide fame, but he was, equally, both by tem- 

 perament and training an Educator. He said of himself: 



" I have been a teacher since I was fifteen years of age. I am so 

 now and I hope I shall continue to be all my life." 



No man was better equipped to appreciate from practical expe- 

 rience the fundamental place of Natural History in Education. It 

 is the earnest purpose of our Society to bring to fuller fruition the 

 dreams and labors of Louis Agassiz by means of a bold programme 

 designed to serve the cause of Education in New England. 



The status in the public mind of the study of Natural History 

 had by this time (1861) been raised from one of obscurity and de- 

 rision to one of sympathetic interest, a progress which was largely 

 due to the irresistible fascination with which Louis Agassiz and 

 other naturalists of the day interpreted for laymen the fruits of 

 their insatiable penetration into Nature's mysteries. The then Pres- 

 ident of the Society, Professor Wyman, thus outlined the Society's 

 standing and functions: 



" We have recently set forth our claim upon the community for 

 patronage. It should be remembered that the public, though it 

 does not formally set forth its claims upon us, has them, and with 

 a deeper interest in the study of Nature than has been known be- 

 fore, judges us with a severer scrutiny and by a higher standard 

 than at any previous period. So long as we make our collections 

 useful and our studies conducive to the public good, and thus 

 show ourselves faithful to our trusts, we are justified in the belief 

 that we may confidently expect to receive hereafter every neces- 

 sary support and encouragement." 



The impact of the Civil War on the Society is thus described by 



