CH. XL. LOUIS AGASSIZ. 447 



formations. As with all the other sciences of the nine- 

 teenth century, you must read the details of these advances 

 in geology in special works ; but there are two great dis- 

 coveries which we must mention very shortly here. These 

 are ist. The fact that much of temperate Europe, Asia, 

 and America was at one time covered with ice, as Greenland 

 is now ; and 2d, that man has lived upon the earth much 

 longer than was once supposed. 



Louis Agassiz, 1807-1874. The man whose name will 

 always be remembered as having first traced out the wonder- 

 ful history of the great ice-period is Agassiz, the famous 

 Swiss naturalist, who was born in 1807 at Mottier, near 

 Neuchatel, and died in 1874 in America. 



Louis Agassiz was the son of a Swiss pastor, and he 

 forms one among many bright examples in the history of 

 science, of men who cared neither for wealth, advance- 

 ment, nor ease, but for the study of nature alone, and the 

 grand truths to be obtained by it After receiving a good 

 education in the Swiss and German Universities, living 

 frugally and economically, as students can on the Continent, 

 he took his degree of Doctor of Medicine at Munich in 

 1829, having already written several important papers on 

 zoology. In 1832 he was made Professor of Natural His- 

 tory at the University of Neuchatel; and in 1833 he pub- 

 lished his work on * Fossil Fishes/ the expenses of the book 

 being liberally paid by Humboldt. In 1839 ne published 

 his grand work on the ' Fresh-Water Fishes of Europe,' 

 which cost him so much that he was very poor for years 

 afterwards. 



There are very touching passages in some of Agassiz's 

 private letters at this early period, when he had a hard 

 struggle with life. His enthusiasm breathes out so natu- 

 rally, and he speaks so regretfully of want of money, not 



