LOUIS AGASSIZ 121 



dent of experience. To the pure idealist 

 the world of the normal man has no 

 more real existence than the visions of 

 delirium. It is a series of mental phe- 

 nomena, to be explained by the laws of 

 mind ; and the proper study of logician, 

 chemist, and zoologist, is man. Asser- 

 tions about what can and cannot be in 

 nature, when dated from the closet and 

 not from the laboratory, have proved 

 false because the intellect which dictated 

 the rules was feeble, not because the 

 method was intrinsically absurd. 



The spirit which had informed that 

 era was still dominant at Munich during 

 the three years which stamped them- 

 selves so deeply upon Agassiz. Schelling 

 and Oken were the two most famous pro- 

 fessorsthe philosopher who asserted 

 his right to teach zoology and the zoo- 

 logist who insisted on introducing philos- 

 ophy. Oken was an avowed natural- 

 ist ; and, if he decided first, he at least 

 hoped to find himself confirmed by the 



