LOUIS AGASSIZ. 785 



In the prosecution of this liberal plan, Prof. Agassiz became at once engaged 

 in the effective organization of the school or college, endeavoring to " ex- 

 tend the range of its usefulness in the application of science to the practical 

 art of modern civilization," his object being particularly " to combine physi- 

 cal and chemical experiment with the instruction and work of research to be 

 carried on upon the island — physiological experiments being at the very 

 foundation of the exhaustive study of zoology." 



" He is," says the accomplished critic, Mr. Whipple, in the course of an 

 able review of his " Essay on Classificaiion " in the first volume of the " Con- 

 tributions to the Natural History of North America," " not merely a scien- 

 tific thinker, he is a scientific force ; and no small portion of the immense 

 influence he exerts is due to the energy, intensity, and geniality which dis- 

 tinguish the nature of the man. In personal intercourse he inspires as well 

 as informs ; communicates not only knowledge, but the love of knowledge, 

 and makes, for the time, everything appear of small account in comparison 

 with the subject which has possession of his soul. To hear him speak on 

 his favorite themes is to become inflamed with his enthusiasm. He is at 

 once one of the most dominating and one of the most sympathetic of 

 men, having the qualities of leader and companion combined in singular har- 

 mony. People follow him, work for him, contribute money for his objects, 

 not only from the love inspired by his good-fellowship, but from the compul- 

 sion exercised by his force. Divorced from his congeniality, his energy 

 would make him disliked as a dictator ; divorced from his energy, his genial- 

 ity would be barren of practical effects. The good-will he inspires in others 

 quickens their active faculties as well as their benevolent feelings. They 

 feel that, magnetized by the man, they must do something for the science 

 impersonated in the man — that there is no way of enjoying his companionship 

 without catching the contagion of his spirit. He consequently wields, through 

 his social qualities, a wider personal influence over a wider variety of persons 

 than any other scientific man of his time. At his genial instigation laborers 

 delve and dive, students toil for specimens, merchants open their purses, legis- 

 latures pass appropriation bills." 



Professor Agassiz received the most distinguished attentions from the 

 French Academy of Sciences and other numerous scientific associations of 

 Europe. The Emperor offered him the post of director of the Jardin des 

 Plantes, at Paris, with a seat in the Senate. The position was one which a 

 scientific man of the highest rank might well covet, and the emoluments of 

 the office, with that of the other office associated with it, were quite large 

 His acceptance of the offer would have given Iiim at Paris a rank equal to 



