70 LOUIS AGASSIZ 



action could be seen over enormous 

 tracts of the earth 7 s surface, perhaps 

 including regions in the tropics, and that 

 in countries now temperate there might 

 be discovered not only the remains of 

 tropical fauna and flora, but also distinct 

 indications of a period of arctic cold 

 this was as new as startling. Geologists 

 looked at each other with a wild sur- 

 mise. The possibility had been glanced 

 at before, not by mere irresponsible 

 theorisers, but by such a master in 

 theoretical suggestion as Goethe. But 

 neither a lucky guess nor a learned 

 hypothesis can take rank in science with 

 a theory supported by accumulated evi- 

 dence from observation. 



In 1836 Agassiz spent the summer 

 with his friend, Jean- de Charpentier, 

 and brought the daring of youth and 

 genius to help the strange, new ideas 

 that Charpentier hardly ventured to 

 suggest above a whisper. A new world 

 for research was flashed before his eyes. 



