LOUIS AGASSIZ 107 



siasm from the American people, and 

 that nothing which they could give 

 seemed good enough for him. His abso- 

 lute unconcern about personal wealth 

 was a trait especially picturesque in 

 America. Its sincerity was too patent 

 for any scoffer to doubt it, and this gave 

 him the more power over moneyed men. 

 Though always poor himself, he had scien- 

 tific use and control of very large sums 

 of private and public money. Legisla- 

 tures voted funds on his authority, mill- 

 ionaires brought him offerings, and stu- 

 dents subscribed their savings for his 

 plans. If we had his account-book, it 

 certainly would read like a fairy-tale of 

 science. Yet these funds were from hand 

 to mouth : he never could be sure when 

 a new plan presented itself that the 

 necessary means would follow ; and, as his 

 health broke down, he had attacks of, 

 despondency which contradicted his very 

 nature. 



In 1858 the Museum which had long 



