PENIKESE AND AGASSIZ. 3! 



the afternoon until tea time. Sometimes we had a 

 lecture after dark, while we often dissected by candle 

 light. Thus we were never idle, always busy, al- 

 ways learning! How softly and how pleasantly the 

 time passed; and far into the night we remained re- 

 writing our daily notes. 



Professor Agassiz's own method of work was pe- 

 culiar, and differed from that of any of the other 

 professors, though many of them imitated him as 

 closely as they were able. He never assumed super- 

 iority over his pupils; never attempted to annihilate 

 them with his wisdom; but yet, being superior, he 

 took the place of a brother as well as that of a 

 teacher. As brother and teacher he was a living il- 

 lustration of the truth of mottoes which, from time 

 to time, he tried to impress upon his pupils. "If you 

 wish to learn," he would say, " there must be no 

 question of dicipline in the class room," and unruly 

 members were dismissed at once and without mercy. 

 And, again, "Never be afraid to say 'I do not know.' " 

 He would give us an object, and oblige us to study 

 that object alone for days, until we had ascertained 

 the simple and yet plainly evident principals of clas- 

 sification involved in its form and proportions. 

 Rarely would he tell us anything about any specimen 

 which he had given us to examine; but would ques- 

 tion us day by day until we had told him the history 

 of the species, as we were able to discover it; or un- 

 til we were obliged, from the mere fact of finding 

 nothing else to say, to give him the very answer for 

 which he had originally given us the specimen. Un- 

 til we gave him this answer, we were subject to the 

 closest and most continued scrutiny; whether the 

 time were hours or days, made no difference to him. 

 I once discovered, amongst the remnants of sand and 

 debris in my collecting net, a most curiously speckled, 

 shell-like or seed-like object, which, seeing Professor 

 Agassiz near, I hastened to show him. In the eager- 

 ness of the moment I asked him what it was. He 

 looked at it intently for an instant. His face became 



