LOUIS AGASSIZ 53 



courses began by a very successful pub- 

 lic lecture on the Eelations between Dif- 

 ferent Branches of Natural History. This 

 was a characteristic choice of subject. 

 Agassiz was fond of ignoring arbitrary 

 divisions. " Facts in his hands fell into 

 their orderly relation as parts of a con- 

 nected whole, and were never presented 

 merely as special or isolated phenom- 

 ena." His influence was felt outside 

 the lecture-room in many ways. Popu- 

 lar lectures were offered for those who 

 were not students. Classes for children 

 sprang up. His collections formed the 

 nucleus of an unusually excellent city 

 museum. The Neuch&tel Society of Nat- 

 ural Sciences, organised within a month 

 of his arrival, was soon of real impor- 

 tance. Agassiz' s boundless and almost 

 incredible energy gave to the world 

 work after work on various subjects. 

 He attracted other men since famous on 

 their own account, and his establishment 

 was called a scientific factory always in 



