April 7, 1910] 



NA TURE 



16 



ALEXANDER AGASSIZ. FOR.MEM.R.S. 



A LTHOUGH the great American oceanographer 

 "**• had reached the age of seventy-five, few of his 

 friends were prepared to hear of his death, which 

 -appears to have taken place, somewhat suddenly, on 

 board the s.s. Adriatic on March 28, while on a voyage 

 back to the United States. 



The disting-uished son of a famous father, Alexander 

 Agassiz was born in Switzerland but naturalised in 

 America ; yet, so cosmopolitan was he in his tastes 

 <ind habits, that if ever an individual deserved the title 

 of '"a citizen of the world " he was the man. Up to 

 the age of thirteen, he was educated in his native 

 land, but, proceeding to the United States in 1848, 

 he went to the Harvard University, where — as a 

 student in chemistry and engineering — he obtained his 

 degree of B.Sc. at the age of twenty-two. After 

 spending a short time as a^ member of the United 

 States Geological Survey, young Agassiz became a 

 mining expert, and so successful was he in this pro- 

 fession that, acquiring possession of valuable pro- 

 perties in the Lake Superior region, he rapidly made 

 a very large fortune in connection with the copper 

 mines. 



The love of natural-history studies, however, which 

 he inherited from his father, soon made itself felt; at 

 first he assisted his father as curator of the Museum 

 of Comparative Zoology at Harvard. As his wealth 

 increased, he was able to benefit that institu- 

 tion, not only by specimens collected during his ex- 

 tensive travels and by defraying the cost of many 

 i^vT^r-nsive publications, but also by gifts of money 

 J loo.oooZ. After the death of his father he acted 

 - i -urator of the museum for eleven years. Beginning 

 with the study of marine ichthyology, he subsequently 

 came to be acknowledged as a great authority on the 

 nodermata, so that, on the return of the 

 i.lenger expedition, he was asked to undertake 

 the report on the Echini collected during the 

 voyage. 



But the work for which Alexander Agassiz will be 

 chiefly remembered was that which, during nearly 

 forty years, he carried on at his own expense in con- 

 nection with oceanography. The United States 

 Go\ ernment, with the greatest liberality and considera- 

 tion for the interests of science, allowed him from time 

 to time the use of their surveying vessels, the captains 

 of which were instructed to place themselves virtually 

 iuider the orders of Agassiz himself. The naturalist, 

 ■ded by a staff selected and paid by himself, carried 

 ■i soundings and dredgings in every part of the 

 o^lobe, special attention being devoted to the study of 

 oral reefs. Beginning, in 1877, ^^ith the study of 

 he Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the At- 

 antic coast of America, Agassiz continued his work 

 n 1880 by investigating the surface fauna of the 

 ~ulf Stream. Besides working out the details derived 

 rom the study of collections made during these 

 /oyages, the results of which were published in 

 »nnection with the Harvard Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology, Agassiz wrote a well-illustrated account of 

 lis work, "The Three Voyages of the Blake," in two 

 '^olumes. 



In 1891 Agassiz transferred his attention to the 

 vestem shores of the United States and Central 

 \.merica, investigating the seas around the Sandwich 

 slands, and paying special attention to the coral reefs 

 here, between 1892 and 1894. His explorations were 

 attended during 1895-6 to the Great Barrier Reef of 

 Vustralia, and in 1897-8 to the Fiji Islands. In 1899 

 md 1900 he was able to undertake a cruise among the 

 •arious groups of coral-islands lying between San 

 'rancisco and Japan. In 1901-2 Agassiz commenced 

 NO. 21 10, VOL. 83] 



his study of the Indian Ocean, paying especial atten- 

 tion to the Maldive Islands and their surroundings ; 

 and, in order to complete the examination of portions 

 of the Pacific that he had not already visited, he 

 devoted the years 1904-5 to a cruise among the im- 

 portant island-groups of the eastern half of the Pacific 

 Ocean. 



The inter\-als between his several voyages were 

 j occupied by Agassiz in the study of his enormous 

 I collections and the preparation of memoirs dealing 

 ! with the results obtained. These were issued, regard- 

 less of expense as to their illustration, in the publica- 

 tions of the Boston Society's Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology-. No fewer than thirty volumes of memoirs 

 and fifty-three volumes of bulletins are devoted to the 

 results obtained from the study of these collections bv 

 Agassiz and the various specialists who assisted him. 

 His own favourite place of work was Paris, where 

 rooms were always allotted to him in the Museum of 

 Natural Histor)-, and he had the fullest access to 

 scientific libraries. 



Of the value and importance of the results of these 

 voyages it is impossible to speak too highly. Perhaps 

 the most striking of the conclusions arrived at bv 

 him are those relating to great movements which have 

 taken place in the bed of the Pacific in comparatively 

 recent geological times. This is evidenced by the 

 numerous upraised coral-reefs which, following Dana, 

 he described; in many of these the limestone rock, 

 now at elevations of 1000 feet and upwards, has been 

 more or less completely converted into dolomite. 



It is not necessary, in face of the above statement of 

 facts, to add that Agassiz was a man of indomitable 

 energy. He thought as little of crossing the Atlantic 

 as we do of crossing the Thames, and death met him 

 at last while still "on the move." Of his courage, a 

 remarkable example is told concerning an altercation 

 he had with a military officer in a crowded restaurant 

 in Germany ; on that occasion he did not hesitate to 

 resent an insult by a blow, though fortunately any 

 serious result from the rash act was prevented by the 

 interposition of a number of judicious friends of the 

 officer, aided by American and English visitors 

 who were present. In early life, Alexander Agassiz 

 exhibited something of the dogmatic habit of mind 

 that distinguished his illustrious father ; but, mellowed 

 by age and constant intercourse w^ith other men, he 

 became in after life strikingly open-minded and readv 

 to listen to arguments, even those that told against 

 his most cherished convictions. Those who were privi- 

 leged to enjoy his friendship in his later life knew him 

 as a man of ardent enthusiasm, restless energy, and 

 charming bonhomie, but also as one patient in discus- 

 sion, and always ready to listen to facts and reasonings 

 from whatever quarter they came. His generosity 

 was unbounded, and he was always ready to place 

 his abundant materials at the service of young men 

 who were qualified and willing to engage in their 

 study. 



In ever)' scientific circle of Europe, as well as in 

 those of America, Alexander Agassiz was well known, 

 and in all of them his loss will be deeply mourned. In 

 France he received the Legion d'Honneur, and in 

 Germany the Order of Merit. In this country- he was 

 for many years a Foreign Member of the Roval 

 Societ\'. Only last year the Royal Geographical 

 Society awarded him the Victoria research medal, and 

 we may fitly conclude this notice with the verdict of 

 the president in announcing the award — a verdict in 

 the justice of which all must agree—" He has done 

 rnore for oceanographical research than any otlier 

 single ihdividual." 



John W. Jldd. 



