LOUIS AGASSIZ. 317 



father, who waits for you with open heart and 

 arms, sends you the most tender greeting." He 

 had been devoting his time to science just what 

 they feared, but how proud they were to have 

 him succeed ! 



Cuvier, the great leader in zoology, to whom the 

 book was dedicated, wrote back : " You and M. de 

 Martius have done me honor in placing my name 

 at the head of a work so admirable as the one you 

 have just published. The importance and the 

 rarity of the species therein described, as well as 

 the beauty of the figures, will make the work an 

 important one in ichthyology, and nothing could 

 heighten its value more than the accuracy of your 

 descriptions. It will be of the greatest use to me 

 in my ' History of Fishes.' ... I shall do all in 

 my power to accelerate the sale among amateurs, 

 either by showing it to such as meet at my house, 

 or by calling attention to it in scientific journals." 



Another project had now taken form in Agassiz's 

 active brain, his great work on " Poissons Fossiles," 

 which a few years later placed him in the front 

 rank of scientific men. He wrote to Auguste: 

 " Having, by permission of the director of the 

 museum, one of the finest collections of fossils in 

 Germany at my disposition, and being also allowed 

 to take the specimens home as I need them, I have 

 undertaken to publish the ichthyological part of 

 the collection. Since it only makes the difference 

 of one or two people more to direct, I have these 

 specimens also drawn at the same time. Nowhere 



