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  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CALIFORNIA 
  

  

  zoologist, 
  this 
  interpreter 
  of 
  nature 
  ! 
  The 
  news 
  of 
  his 
  decease 
  has 
  brought 
  to 
  

   learned 
  societies 
  and 
  to 
  common 
  schools, 
  to 
  universities 
  and 
  to 
  fishermen's 
  cot- 
  

   tages, 
  the 
  sense 
  of 
  a 
  personal 
  bereavement, 
  for 
  it 
  tells 
  of 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  a 
  guide, 
  the 
  

   death 
  of 
  a 
  friend. 
  

  

  To 
  these 
  twofold 
  aspects 
  of 
  his 
  character, 
  your 
  attention 
  will 
  now 
  be 
  

   directed 
  ; 
  the 
  speaker 
  who 
  follows,* 
  by 
  our 
  mutual 
  understanding, 
  rehearsing 
  

   the 
  claims 
  of 
  Agassiz 
  to 
  scientific 
  renown, 
  while 
  I 
  am 
  to 
  dwell 
  upon 
  his 
  claims 
  

   to 
  popular 
  regard, 
  or 
  rather 
  upon 
  his 
  character 
  as 
  a 
  teacher, 
  and 
  the 
  influence 
  

   he 
  has 
  exerted 
  upon 
  American 
  Education, 
  

  

  It 
  will 
  be 
  generally 
  admitted 
  that, 
  among 
  all 
  the 
  teachers 
  of 
  the 
  land, 
  he 
  has 
  

   held 
  the 
  foremost 
  place. 
  Notwithstanding 
  that 
  ours 
  was 
  to 
  him 
  a 
  foreign 
  

   tongue, 
  that 
  he 
  grew 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  prime 
  of 
  life 
  under 
  European 
  institutions, 
  and 
  

   that 
  the 
  subjects 
  which 
  he 
  taught 
  were 
  quite 
  remote 
  from 
  what 
  are 
  called 
  the 
  

   " 
  practical 
  " 
  wants 
  of 
  the 
  Americans, 
  he 
  always 
  spoke 
  among 
  us 
  with 
  that 
  ex- 
  

   traordinary 
  power 
  of 
  adaption, 
  that 
  easy 
  self-possession, 
  that 
  rare 
  adjustment 
  of 
  

   thoughts 
  and 
  words 
  to 
  the 
  occasion, 
  which 
  constitutes 
  true 
  eloquence 
  — 
  which 
  

   attracts, 
  enlightens, 
  delights 
  and 
  persuades. 
  Before 
  the 
  Legislature 
  of 
  Massa- 
  

   chusetts 
  or 
  the 
  National 
  Academy 
  of 
  Sciences, 
  in 
  the 
  college 
  lecture-room 
  or 
  in 
  

   the 
  teachers' 
  institute, 
  on 
  the 
  public 
  platform 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  private 
  parlor, 
  in 
  the 
  

   open 
  field 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  vessel's 
  deck, 
  he 
  was 
  always 
  the 
  same 
  — 
  ready, 
  graceful 
  en- 
  

   thusiastic, 
  earnest, 
  suggestive, 
  and 
  instructive. 
  He 
  delighted 
  to 
  learn, 
  that 
  he 
  

   might 
  teach 
  ; 
  to 
  teach, 
  that 
  he 
  might 
  learn. 
  

  

  When 
  such 
  a 
  man 
  departs, 
  old, 
  honored, 
  unsullied, 
  and 
  beloved, 
  it 
  is 
  well 
  

   to 
  inquire 
  into 
  the 
  antecedents 
  of 
  his 
  character, 
  the 
  elements 
  of 
  his 
  renown. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  not 
  every 
  teacher 
  who 
  is 
  endowed 
  with 
  a 
  good 
  constitution, 
  neither 
  

   too 
  nervous, 
  nor 
  too 
  phlegmatic. 
  Agassiz 
  was 
  fortunate 
  in 
  his 
  physical 
  charac- 
  

   ter, 
  his 
  noble 
  figure, 
  his 
  beaming 
  countenance, 
  his 
  elastic 
  step, 
  his 
  excellent 
  

   health. 
  He 
  was 
  not 
  of 
  that 
  type 
  of 
  scholars 
  whose 
  shriveled 
  faces 
  and 
  whose 
  

   withered 
  forms 
  declare 
  the 
  neglect 
  of 
  exercise, 
  and 
  the 
  misuse 
  of 
  food 
  ; 
  nor 
  was 
  

   he 
  one 
  who 
  gained 
  by 
  stimulants 
  extraordinary 
  force. 
  He 
  possessed 
  what 
  

   might 
  be 
  called 
  a 
  commanding 
  presence, 
  a 
  favorable 
  personal 
  equation, 
  a 
  mag- 
  

   netic 
  influence, 
  a 
  manly 
  beauty, 
  or 
  an 
  easy 
  dignity 
  — 
  a 
  quality 
  not 
  to 
  be 
  defined, 
  

   but 
  everywhere 
  appreciated, 
  which 
  may 
  be 
  in-bred, 
  yet 
  must 
  be 
  first 
  in-born. 
  

   He 
  came 
  of 
  good 
  descent, 
  having 
  a 
  mother 
  of 
  rare 
  intellectual 
  qualities, 
  and 
  on 
  

   his 
  father's 
  side 
  an 
  ancestry 
  of 
  six 
  generations 
  of 
  Protestant 
  ministers, 
  going 
  

   back 
  to 
  the 
  Huguenot 
  refugees. 
  But 
  his 
  was 
  not 
  the 
  parentage 
  of 
  wealth 
  or 
  

   fashion, 
  and 
  the 
  narrow 
  circumstances 
  of 
  his 
  early 
  life 
  quickened 
  his 
  industry, 
  

   his 
  patience, 
  and 
  his 
  pei-sistence, 
  and 
  fitted 
  bira 
  forever 
  after 
  to 
  sympathize 
  with 
  

   and 
  encourage 
  those 
  who 
  have 
  high 
  aims 
  and 
  shallow 
  purses. 
  

  

  His 
  early 
  culture 
  was 
  most 
  liberal. 
  In 
  many 
  countries, 
  and 
  through 
  many 
  

   years, 
  his 
  studies 
  were 
  prolonged. 
  Four 
  years, 
  the 
  record 
  runs, 
  in 
  the 
  gymna- 
  

   sium 
  at 
  Brienne, 
  two 
  years 
  in 
  college 
  at 
  Lausanne, 
  two 
  years 
  in 
  the 
  medical 
  

   school 
  at 
  Zurich, 
  five 
  years 
  in 
  the 
  universities 
  of 
  Heidelberg, 
  Munich, 
  and 
  

   Erlangen, 
  that 
  is, 
  thirteen 
  years, 
  at 
  least, 
  of 
  preparation 
  in 
  the 
  period 
  of 
  youth. 
  

  

  * 
  Prof, 
  Joseph 
  Le 
  Conte. 
  

  

  