98 LOUIS AGASSIZ 



him as a teacher, we take again the 

 plentiful phrases waiting us ; and they 

 all may be reduced to two things, his 

 own enjoyment and his sympathy. He 

 could write the primary divisions of the 

 animal kingdom on the blackboard with 

 delight, and turn to see whether his 

 class had taken the idea, with the same 

 interest when he did it for the thou- 

 sandth time in America as when he 

 faced his first audience in Neuch&tel. 

 He had a most patient toleration of dull 

 and ignorant persons ; and, if a pupil 

 wished to learn, that was more than 

 enough. As a lecturer, he carried his 

 audience captive. All caught a sparkle 

 of his enthusiasm, and were fired by his 

 ardour. There was contagion in him. 

 He was himself a scientific force. He 

 lacked rancour, spoke courteously of 

 opponents, and took as much pleasure 

 in the discoveries of others as in his 

 own. And, finally, he was u mag- 

 netic" so often that we ought to raise 



