256 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



found this establishment. The first stone was laid on the 14th of June, 

 1859, and in December of the same year the building was sufficiently 

 advanced to commence the installation of the collections. 



From that time Agassiz had but one aim, the increase and organiza- 

 tion of this museum. "His activity, researches, diplomacy, resources," 

 wrote to us one of his friends who saw him at work, "are something 

 prodigious. He spared nothing where his museum was concerned, gave 

 public lectures, resorted to all kinds of devices to promote its interests: 

 he put under contribution all his friends and acquaintances; he spoke of 

 nothing, saw nothing, but his museum; it became his one idea." The 

 gifts of natural objects and of money poured in from all sides. The State 

 and private individuals rivaled each other in generous assistance of this 

 great work which Agassiz had succeeded in making a national affair, 

 and in a few years the pecuniary subsidies amounted to the sum of 

 $470,000. During the years 1872 and 1873 alone the museum received 

 besides its annual supi^lies gifts equal to about $170,000. 



The vast learning of Agassiz, his amiability, his benevolence, his affa- 

 ble gaiety, his enthusiasm for everything relating to science, and his 

 personal disinterestedness, everywhere created for him friends who con- 

 tributed to the increase of his museum. Never had any one so many. 

 His language, winning and often rising even in English to true eloquence, 

 captivated his audiences and attracted the crowds he loved to tesich. 

 He was in communication with all the sea-captains, who made collections 

 for him in their distant expeditions. When he was on a voyage every- 

 body was at his disposal, and more than once the inhabitants of the dis- 

 tant countries he visited made journeys of considerable extent in order to 

 procure some rare animals for him only for the pleasure of seeing his 

 joy, his astonishment, and his gratitude, which were always very warmly 

 and openly expressed. 



All parts of America were explored. The Emperor of Brazil, whose 

 interest in science has never flagged, sent him rich collections. The 

 soundings made along the coast of America by the United States Coast 

 Survey, under the direction of Mr. de Pourtal^s, and especially the voy- 

 age to the valley of the Amazon and the expedition of the Hassler, added 

 greatly to these zoological treasures. In 1863, that is to say, before the 

 expedition to Brazil, the museum already contained G,000 species of fish, 

 represented by 100,000 specimens. It is not, like most collections of 

 natural history, a mass of material disposed in a purely zoological order. 

 Its organization is based upon the principles of classification we have 

 described ; and we find in it several distinct series. In the first the 

 animals are classed in such a manner that one can study their natural 

 associations, their zoological relations, the general characteristics of the 

 genera and of the classes, their skeletons, and other anatomical pecul- 

 iarities. A second series represents the fauna of each region, the geo- 

 graphical distribution of living beings upon the surface of the globe and 

 their various associations, upon each continent. The fossil animals are 



