JEAN LOUIS RODOLPHE AGASSIZ. 489 



was this gift accepted when he added an endowment of fifty 

 thousand dollars for the equipment of the school. Early in 

 July the school was opened, and a most profitable summer was 

 spent on the island by the fifty or sixty persons there assem- 

 bled. The resident professors besides Agassiz were Burt G. 

 Wilder and Alpheus S. Packard. Count de Pourtales was 

 there in charge of the dredging, for which purpose Mr. Charles 

 G. Galloupe had given the school a yacht. Agassiz's friend 

 from youth, Prof. Guyot, came to deliver a course of lectures 

 and remained some time. 



In the fall Agassiz returned to his usual occupations. The 

 care of the summer school had imposed an added strain upon 

 his long over-burdened nervous system, and his health was 

 now a subject of anxiety to his friends. One day in December 

 he went home early from the museum, complaining of great 

 weariness, and, after an illness of eight days, he peacefully 

 passed away December 14, 1873. He was buried at Mount 

 Auburn. A boulder from the glacier of the Aar is his monu- 

 ment, and around it grow pine trees also sent from Switz- 

 erland. 



As a naturalist, Prof. Agassiz was unwearied in his devotion 

 to his favourite pursuits. He worked early and late, often 

 denying to himself the most necessary rest and recreation ; and 

 his remarkably strong constitution sustained him under a strain 

 that would quickly have proved fatal to a man of less vigour. 

 His mind was pre-eminently great ; gifted with a wonderfully 

 retentive memory, he combined with it a power of generaliza- 

 tion and quick perception that places him next to Cuvier, 

 whose disciple he was, and whom he seemed to imitate. In 

 his methods of investigation he was perfectly honest, and, 

 though many might differ from him in his conclusions, none 

 could deny the absolute integrity of his convictions. His in- 

 tercourse with his fellow-men was pervaded by his goodness 

 of heart and childlike simplicity With inexperience he was 

 most patient and painstaking, never wearying in his efforts to 

 aid. Tolerant of ignorance where associated with modesty, he 

 had but little patience with arrogance and ignorance combined. 

 His students will all bear witness to the unvarying cheerfulness 

 and ready sympathy^in him they had learned to look up to as 

 their master. 



Agassiz was a great naturalist, but he was a greater teacher. 

 32 



