IXUflUA 



AQASSIZ, LOUIS. 



M 



Tb.Tn.JM war an*, out of the abdncUon of Helen by Pari., utber 

 *. eafid Alexandras, son of Priam, king of Troy. It i* commonly 

 aid, UkU a numhrr of UM prince* of Grew* having been drawn 

 toswUMr a* suilon by UM extraordinary beauty of Helen, Tyndareus 



, ____ l.y UM extraordinary beaoty of Helen. Tyndarvus 



uclad an U> from them. Uui on whomsoever UM ohoio* should 

 faU, if 111* maid should U carried off all the rest should uniU to 

 recover her; and thai, in virtuo of this oath. UM confederate prince* 

 ssssmblsd under UM command of Agamemnon. In reference to thi* 

 dorr. Thucydide* ha* expressed bit belief; - that Agamemnon got 

 tontiwr that <*, not 10 much for thai be had with him Uw uitort 

 of lltleaa. bound thereto by oath to Tyndareoa, as for this, that be 

 rioKilfel U>* rest in power." In continuation, the hutoriao layi 

 wot sirs** npun hk naal power, u evinced by bU being, in Homer'* 

 wooU. " king of many ialanda," and by hia leading sixty akip* to the 

 Arcadians, bssidis conducting a hundred fiUcd with LU own follower*, 

 a larger number than waa led by any other chief. 



The asMBbbd fUat wae detained at AulU by contrary wind*. The 

 aeer Cstosas, being consulted bow the anger of the goda might be 

 averted. and UM delay obviated, declared that Iphigenia, daughter of 

 Agamemnon, who bad incurred the displeasure of Diana by killing 

 her favooriU iUg, muit be sacrificed to the goddess. The natural 

 reluctance of the father wae overcome by importunity and ambition ; 

 and UM intended victim waa summoned to AulU, under pretence of 

 betrothing her to Achilla*. At the point of death ahe waa miraculoualy 

 saved by Uuuia, wboee prieawea abe afterwards became among a aavage 

 neopk of Asia, oaUed the Tauri. Thia atory u related neither by 

 Homer nor Hewxl ; it reata however on the early authority of Pimlar 

 C PyUL,' U.) and JCschylu* ; and u pregnant with too important con- 

 to be omitted, aince the alienation of Clytcmnestra from 



ber husband i* said by those authors to have originated in her horror 

 of tab unnatural action. Tb* siege of Troy wss protracted for ten 



The most memorable event of it i* the quarrel between 

 and Achilles, the subject of the ' Iliad? in which Aga- 



i placed himself completely in the wrong. Homer represent* 

 him a* brave, and expert in arms, insomuch, that when a Grecian 

 warrior was selrcUd by tut who should contend with Hector in aingle 

 combat, it wss the general prayer that the lot might fall on Ajax, 

 Dittoed**, or Agamemnon. Still it is aa the commander, rather than 

 a* UM soldier, that he i* presented to our notice, and usually with 

 some reference to bis wealth and power : ' king of men ' i* the distin- 



S' thing epithet constantly added to hi* name, a* 'swift-footed' i* to 

 name of Achillea, Hesiod also (' Fragm.,' 48) lays that the 

 Olympian god has given strength to the descendant* of ..Uacui, 

 wealth to those of Atreus. Returning from Troy, with Coseandra, 

 tb* daughter of Priam, ha was murdered by hi* wife, who had formed 

 an aduluron* attachment to ^Egiatliua, son of hi* uncle Thyesto*. 

 Thi* catastrophe is the subject of the ' Agamemnon ' of .Eschylus, 

 on* of UM moat sublime composition* in the range of the Grecian 

 drama, Orestes, son of Agamemnon, then a child, was saved by the 

 car* of hi* tutor. After passing seven yean in exile, he returned in 

 secret, avenged hi* father'* death by the slaughter of hia mother and 

 of .i&risUina, and recovered bis paternal kingdom, which he ruled 

 with honour. These Irgend* of the house of Agamemnon formed a 

 favourite subject with the Greek tragedians. 



AOA8I AS, a Onek sculptor of Epbesus, whoso age is not accurately 

 known. The stitue now at Bom* called the Borgheae Fighter, which 

 is a fine spMimen of skill in representing a figure in action, and also 

 shows a cartful study of external anatomy, is the work of this Agasias. 

 On tb* support behind UM figure is the following inscription in 

 Omsk :-" Apsis* tb* son of Dositneus of Kphesus made it" 



AOA8SI2, LOUIS, on* of tb* most distinguished naturalist* of 

 UM present dsy. He was born about the beginning of the present 

 rectory, in Switzerland, and was for many yean Professor of Natural 

 History at NeofebaUl. About the year 1 847 be accepted an invitation 

 tj beooso* professor in an American college, and he i* now Profeasor 

 of Natural Hi.tory at Cambridge, MassachuietU. Hi* public career a* 

 a nsturalUt date, from 1828, in which year be published descriptions 

 of two new Uu* in tb* 1*1*' and ' Linns*,' two foreign periodical. 

 <Uvotod to natural history. In 1829 be assisted Spix and Martius in 

 describing the grnen and specie* of fishes found in the Brazil*. In 

 Us* asm* Tew also we find the gnat tnasorndental anatomist, Okn, 

 ^aJs'* discoveries before the Berlin meeting of German 

 VlM tfab time till now hi* publication* upon various 

 ' ~7 bave been constant and most important 

 J of UMM contribution* to the knowledge of 

 , may b. rsekoned bis rosesrch. upon fossil fish**. Th* result* 

 IMS. research** bav* been published in various form, in the natural 

 ibUtry journals of tb* day, and in the Transactions of scientific societies. 

 Mst taportaat of UMSS labours have been directed to the strata of 

 rtUs*, so many of which are rich in the remains of fishes belong- 

 l~ MUM ps* iwriods of UM world's history. In 1834 be published^ 

 o UM ' Fossa Fish of Scotland. 1 in ' ~ 





:' 



of UM OU 



. Since that time 

 fa tb*s*we Transaction*. In 

 Posl TabU of British Fish*.,' 

 " fwlogkej formsUon*. [Fun, in NAT. 



' 



. - 



,- and i,, 1844 a ^portupoo those found in 



the I/radon Clay. Agassii was the first to propose the division of 

 fossil fisnes according to the forms of their scales, and ha* thus placed 

 in the hands of the paleontologist a ready means of dUtinguinhing, by 

 their Male* alone, fishes belonging to the Cartilaginous and Osseous 

 tribes. His papers on this subject will be found in the 13th and 14th 

 volumes of the second series of the 'Annalcs dee Science* Naturellea,' 

 in the 'Comnte* Kendu*' for 1840, and in the 28tb volume of the 

 ' Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal' Hi* researches have not 

 however been confined to fossil fishes ; and numerous papers scattered 

 through the scientific periodical* of Europe and America attest hi* 

 knowledge of recent a* well a* fossil forms. 



Another family, in both their recent and fossil form?, has attracted 

 the attention of Agassis, and these are the Star- Fishes, or E,-hin<>- 

 dcmtata. Hi* researches upon this family have resulted in a great 

 work containing illustrative figure*, entitled ' Monograpb.es il'Echino- 

 dermes Vivaua et Foasile*,' and published in parU, from 1837 to 1842. 

 Several papers on this family attest the zeal And care with which he 

 hnx studied these animals, which have through successive period* of 

 time pUyed an important part amongst the organic beings of the j-lul"-. 

 Although the attention of Professor Agasaiz has been chiefly directed 

 to object* not requiring microscopic investigation, he has successfully 

 investigated many of the forms of /n/iuorto, which are only seen by 

 mean* of this instrument. He was not only one of the earliest to 

 confirm Mr. Shuttle-worth's curious discovery of the existence of 

 animalcule* among the red snow of the Alps, but also to point out 

 the existence of higher forms of animal Ufa (such as the Rotifera) 

 than had been suspected by that observer. [SNOW, KED, in NAT. 

 HIST. Drv.] In some recent researches upon the habits and structure 

 of animalcules, he has even proposed to abolish the class of /n/tuon'a 

 altogether, endeavouring to show that all these beings may be placed 

 amongst the Polypi/era, Jtliizopoda, plants, and ova of higher aninmU. 

 [INFUSORIA, in NAT. HIST. Div.] 



His researches upon fossil animals would naturally draw his attention 

 to the circumstances by which they have been placed in their present 

 position. The geologist has been developed as the result of natural 

 history studies. Surrounded by the ice-covered mountains of Switzer- 

 land, bU mind was naturally led to the study of the phenomena which 

 they presented. The moving glaciers, and their resulting morains, 

 furnished him with facts which seemed to supply the theory of a large 

 number of phenomena in the past history of the world. He saw in 

 other parts of the world, whence glaciers have long since retired, 

 proofs of their existence in the parallel roads and terraces, at the bases 

 of hills and mountains, and in the scratched, polished, and striated 

 surface of rocks. Although this theory has been applied much moro 

 extensively than is consistent with all the facts of particular cases by 

 his disciples, there is no question in the minds of the most competent 

 geologist* of the present day that Agassiz has, by his researches on 

 this subject, pointed out the cause of a large series of geological pheuo- 

 uetua. His papers on this subject are numerous, and will be found in 

 the 'Transactions of the British Association' for 1840, in the 3rd 

 volume of the ' Proceedings of the Geological Society,' in the 1 8th 

 volume of the ' Philosophical Magazine ' (third series), and in the 6th 

 volume of the 'Annals and Magazine of Natural History.' 



In hia writings Professor Agassiz show* a strong tendency to gene- 

 ralisation ; and if a suspicion has grown up of the unsoundness of his 

 viewa in certain departments of natural history inquiry, it baa arisen 

 from this peculiar mental disposition. He has embraced the doctrine 

 of the successive creation of higher organised beings upon the sur- 

 face of the earth, and a paper of his on this subject will be found 

 in the thirty-third volume of the 'Edinburgh New Philo.-ojihi.Ml 

 Journal.' A more detailed account of his views on this subject will 

 be found in the ' Outline* of Comparative Physiology,' written by 

 Professor Agaaaiz in conjunction with Mr. A. A. Gould. This work, 

 originally publiahed in America, has been republUbed in England, with 

 notes and additions by Dr. T. Wright. It is unnecessary to say here 

 that these vinws have upholders and opponents in KngUnd. Amongst 

 the moat distinguished of the former are Professor Owen and Professor 

 Sedgwick, whilst the latter number amongst them the late Professor 

 Edward Forbes and Sir Charles Lyell. Both parties are equally 

 opposed to the theory of organic development, as proposed in an 

 anonymous work called 'The Vestiges of the Natural History of 

 Creation.' Professor Agassiz ha* written in this controversy with 

 great sagacity, and brought his researches on the ' Embryology of the 

 Siilmoiiidiu ' to bear upon the argument. This work was published at 

 Neufcbatel in 1842. 



Another general subject on which Professor Agassiz has entered with 

 his usual enthusiasm, is the question of the origin of the human race 

 from a single pair. Although the doctrine of a multiplicity of stock* 

 must alwaya be received with more than usual suspicion when coming 

 from persons living in communities where slavery is legalised, it is 

 only fair to Professor Agassiz to say that, before his residence in 

 America, bo maintained the theory of the creation of the same species 

 in several distinct centres, both in time and space. It H therefore not 

 to be wondered at that be should uphold the same theory with regard 

 to man. His views on this subject will be found most distinctly 

 enunciated in a paper forming part of a volume published in America 

 in 1 -:. I under the title of ' Typet of Mankind,' and edited by Dr. Nott 

 and Mr. Gliddon. 



