CHAPTER V 



LOUIS AND ALEXANDER AGASSIZ AND 

 AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS 



The " Challenger " expedition was a national undertaking, 

 and it was followed in the last quarter of the nineteenth 

 century by a number of other less extensive but still 

 important national explorations, such as the " Tusca- 

 rora " (United States), " Travailleur " and " Talisman " 

 (French), "National" and " Valdivia " (German), " Vettor 

 Pisani "(ItaUan), " IngoK " (Danish), and " Siboga " (Dutch), 

 all of which supplemented in one direction or another the 

 fundamental discoveries of the British expedition. 



In addition to these, various unofficial explorations, due 

 to the enterprise of private oceanographers, began to make 

 notable contributions to science, and of these men two may 

 be selected as outstanding examples, on account of the extent 

 and importance of their work and of their personal devotion 

 to the subject ; these two are Alexander Agassiz, of the United 

 States, and H.S.H. Albert I, Prince of Monaco. 



There are two Agassizs well known in the history of 

 science, Louis and Alexander, father and son, and both made 

 contributions to our knowledge of the sea. It is true that 

 Louis Agassiz is better known from his other work in zoology 

 and from his fame as a teacher of natural science at Har- 

 vard ; but in addition to his pioneer marine work on the 

 eastern coasts of the United States, we must remember the 

 influence he exercised upon his assistants and students, 

 including his distinguished son, and the inspiration and 

 direction he gave to marine biological exploration in the 



99 



