AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION 



90 



AGE 



Alexander Agassiz (1835-1910), son of Louis 

 Agassiz, came to the United States from his 

 home in 1849, two years after his father 

 had accepted an appointment at Harvard Uni- 

 versity. The son, under the father's guidance, 

 made a special study of zoology and geology, 

 and was graduated from Harvard in 1857. 

 Though he was interested chiefly in the animals 

 of the sea, and became one of the world's 

 authorities on fishes, his geological studies were 

 of great value to him after 1866, when he 

 devoted most of his time to the study and . 

 development of mines. His investigation and 

 engineering skill turned the Calumet and Hecla 

 mine in Michigan from an unpromising venture 

 to one of the richest mines in the world. Of 

 his wealth, derived from this source, he gave 

 about $1,000,000 to Harvard University to fur- 

 ther the work in zoology begun there by his 

 father, and contributed generously to other 

 educational and charitable causes. W.F.Z. 



AGASSIZ ASSOCIATION, an organization 

 which has been extraordinarily successful in 

 its purpose of interesting young people in 

 nature study. Named in honor of Louis Agas- 

 siz, the great nature student and teacher, it 

 has aimed to carry out the conviction he 

 expressed in the words, "The book of Nature 

 is always open, and all that I can do or say 

 shall be to lead young people to study that 

 book, and not to pin their faith to any other." 

 It has therefore placed emphasis on direct ob- 

 servation rather than on reading about natural 

 objects. The association was founded in 1879 

 by Harlan H. Ballard, and has spread until it 

 has branches in most civilized countries. The 

 membership varies from 12,000 to 15,000. One 

 of its outstanding features is the offer of free 

 correspondence instruction in nature study, and 

 another is the offering of prizes for original 

 research work. Association headquarters are 

 at Sound Beach, Conn. If it is desired to 

 organize a local association, directions may be 

 obtained from there. See AGASSIZ, Louis. 

 t AG'ATE, a variety of fine-grained quartz, 

 usually classified as chalcedony. It is a little 

 harder than steel, but more brittle, and takes 

 a high polish, and it is therefore in demand for 

 ornaments and jewelry. Agates are variegated 

 in color, with bands of white, gray, brown, 

 yellow, blue or black; or the colors may be so 

 blended as to present a cloudy, moss-like ap- 

 pearance. They are formed in cavities in rocks 

 by layers of silica deposited by water. 

 . Agates are found in Austria and Germany, 

 where their polishing is an important industry, 



also in India and many parts of the United 

 States and Canada. The principal commercial 

 supply, however, comes from Brazil and Uru- 



MOSS AGATES 



guay. Polished agates, which are often put 

 through various processes to heighten the color 

 effects, are used for knife handles, breast pins, 

 watch charms, vases and other ornamental 

 purposes. Chemists use mortars and pestles 



a, cross-section of onyx agate 



&, cross-section of bull's-eye agate 



of agate to crush hard substances, and chemical 

 balances are supported on " knife-edges" of 

 agate, which is not affected by moisture or 

 chemical fumes. 



AGAVE. See CENTURY PLANT. 



AGE. In law, age is applied to the period 

 of life when men and women are enabled to 

 do legally that which before, for want of years 

 and, presumably, of judgment, they could not 

 do. Full or legal age in male or female is 

 twenty-one years in most countries, though in 

 some states women become of age at 18. The 

 age is completed on the day preceding the 

 anniversary of a person's birth. 



The term is also used to designate the suc- 

 cessive epochs or stages of civilization in his- 

 tory or mythology. The Archaeological Ages 

 or Periods are the Stone Age, the Bronze Age 

 and the Iron Age, these names being given in 

 accordance with the materials chiefly employed 

 for weapons and other implements during the 

 particular period. (See BRONZE AGE; IRON AGE; 

 STONE AGE.) The word age is also applied to 

 certain historical periods marked by special 

 characteristics, as for instance the Elizabethan 

 Age, noted for its literature .and art, the Mid- 

 dle Ages, and the Feudal Age, periods of transi- 

 tion from the barbaric Dark Ages to times of 

 enlightenment and culture. More modern still 



