106 LOUIS AGASSIZ 



offered to Agassiz the chair of palae- 

 ontology at Paris. He had already de- 

 clined a call to Zurich, and even this 

 invitation to take the place so long held 

 by Cuvier did not take him back to 

 Europe. He was in love ' i the word, ' 7 

 says Mrs. Agassiz, ' i is none too strong ' ? 

 with his work in America ; and, though 

 he recognised that the highest of scien- 

 tific honours had been tendered him 

 especially when the French government 

 offered to keep the post open long enough 

 to allow the completion of work actually 

 on hand he deliberately declined it. 

 It is said that he might have had com- 

 bined salaries amounting to nearly fif- 

 teen thousand dollars, with the highest 

 rank, social and scientific, and the direc- 

 torship of the Jardin des Plantes, so 

 anxious was France to secure him on any 

 terms. Later on the offer was renewed, 

 and only three months of residence yearly 

 was asked from him. It is small wonder 

 that his refusal brought a burst of enthu- 



