438 LOUIS AGASSIZ. 



eral papers upon fossils, and still better by 

 his great work upon the indigenous races of 

 America. He is a man of science in the best 

 sense ; admirable both as regards his knowl- 

 edge and his activity. He is the pillar of the 

 Philadelphia Academy. 



The chemists and physicists, again, form 

 another utilitarian class of men in this coun- 

 try. As Tvdth many of them purely scientific 

 work is not their sole object, it is difficult 

 for an outsider to distinguish between the 

 clever manipulators and those who have higher 

 aims. . . . 



The mathematicians have also their culte, 

 dating back to Bowditch, the translator of the 

 "Mecanique celeste," and the author of a work 

 on practical navigation. He died in Boston, 

 where they are now erecting a magnificent 

 monument to his memory. Mr. Peirce, pro- 

 fessor at Cambridge, is considered here the 

 equal of our great mathematicians. It is not 

 for me, who cannot do a sum in addition, to 

 pretend to a judgment in the matter.^ 



You are familiar, no doubt, with the works 

 of Captain Wilkes and the report of his jour- 



^ Though Agassiz was no mathematician, and Peirce no 

 naturalist, they soon found that their intellectual aims were 

 the same, and they became very close friends. 



