88 The Late Professor Louis Agassiz. 



He was in constant receipt of communications from all parts of the 

 country in reference to matters of science or curiosity, and however 

 inappropriate to his specialties, an appeal to " Professor Agassiz " was 

 supposed to be all that was necessary to settle any question. This, o"- 

 course, drew upon him a great deal of labor in the way of correspon- 

 dence, which must have been extremely burdensome. 



The School of Natural History which was established by him in 

 connection with Harvard College had a great influence upon the 

 scientific development of the country, and a large number of his pupils 

 are now exercising the function of teachers elsewhere, or either are of 

 have been engaged in important original investigations. Among those 

 who may be especially mentioned in this connection are Professor A. 

 E. Verrill, of Yale College, Dr. William Stimpson,. Professor A. 

 Hyatt, Professor N. S, Shaler, Mr. F. W. Putnam, Mr. J. A. Allen, 

 Colonel Theodore Lyman, his son Alexander Agassiz, Professor Henry 

 James Clark, Dr. Charles Girard, and others. 



The great range of Professor Agassiz's studies and acquirements, 

 embracing nearly every department of science, enabled him to appre- 

 ciate most thoroughly their mutual bearings ; and it was seldom, indeed, 

 that in any scientific gathering a communication was made on any sub- 

 ject which he was not able to discuss and to illumine, and in many in- 

 stances to establish important generalizations from facts which had 

 previously seemed isolated and of no special meaning. With all this, 

 however, he was extremely modest in regard to his own acquirements, 

 and was accustomed to say that all he felt he could claim, as constitu- 

 ting any special merit on his part, was the generalization that the suc- 

 cessive appearance of life in geological times is essentially represented 

 and illustrated by the successive changes of embryological develop- 

 ment at the present day. 



Any account of the scientific as well as the, personal history of 

 Professor Agassiz is incomplete that does not mention Mrs. Agassiz. 

 To her especially does the world owe the publication of his essays, lec- 

 tures, and many special works, which in most instances were written 

 out and in large part prepared for publication by her. The compan- 

 ion of all his journeys, she was ever by his side to take down from his 

 lips the utterances of the master mind, and, by her thorough sympa- 

 thy in all his pursuits, and her great business and social qualifications, 

 able to relieve him from many duties that would have wasted time be- 

 longing to the world at large, at the same time warning off" with sleep- 

 less vigilance aught that might tend to injure his health. 



