V. 



AGASSIZ'S life falls into three bold 

 divisions his youth and studentship, 

 his thirteen years as professor at Neu- 

 ch&tel, and his later manhood in Amer- 

 ica. He went to NeucMtel in the 

 autumn of 1832, and remained there 

 till 1845, declining calls to Heidelberg, 

 Geneva, and Lausanne, as afterwards in 

 America he declined invitations back 

 to Europe. The ease with which he 

 passed from one subject to another is a 

 curious contrast to this conservative 

 loyalty when once connected with an 

 institution. His greatest scientific work 

 as an investigator was done while at 

 NeucMtel. In America he occupied a 

 unique position as the undoubted scien- 

 tific leader of a continent, the " Great 

 Professor, " as we were fond of calling 

 him ; and his labours for the promotion 

 and popularisation of science were so 

 great that even his own researches are 

 somewhat overshadowed by them. 



