June 9, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



879 



exploration of Lake Titicaea. He had 

 taken his museum assistant with him to 

 help in making collections for the museum 

 at Cambridge; he had chartered the only 

 available vessel, had taken water and air 

 temperatures, had dredged and tow-netted 

 and constructed a bathymetrieal chart of 

 this elevated lake, 12,500 feet above sea 

 level — altogether a most interesting de- 

 scription from all points of view. 



The Alexander Agassiz before the death 

 of his wife in 1873 was, in my opinion, a 

 very different man from the Alexander 

 Agassiz after that sad event. The first 

 Alexander Agassiz I had seen, but I knew 

 him only very slightly. I have pictured 

 him as he appears to me from his corre- 

 spondence, from what I have heard from 

 his intimates, and from his own lips. The 

 second Alexander Agassiz I knew well, 

 long and intimately; he was during the 

 last thirty-four years one of my most inti- 

 mate and valued scientific friends. 



During his visit to the Challenger at 

 Halifax he promised to come to England 

 on the return of the expedition to see our 

 deep-sea treasures. "When he arrived in 

 Edinburgh I referred to the death of his 

 wife, but he held up his hands and said, 

 "I can not bear it." His expression was 

 such that the subject was never again men- 

 tioned, although he frequently spoke about 

 his boys. He spent fully two months in 

 Edinburgh, but would not at that time 

 attend any social functions. Every day 

 from early morning till as long as day-light 

 lasted he assisted me in opening boxes and 

 bottles and in separating out the various 

 groups of marine organisms, especially 

 selecting the echini, which he was to take 

 to America, having consented to describe 

 this group of organisms for the report on 

 the scientific results of the expedition. 

 While this work was going on we had 

 abundant opportunity for discussing the 



work and results of the expedition and 

 every aspect of the new science of the sea. 

 I was relatively young, and often re- 

 counted to him the comic and other inci- 

 dents of the voyage, and he would smile 

 and seem amused. His attitude was, how- 

 ever, in striking contrast to the boisterous 

 merriment of Haeckel when engaged with 

 me in the same place and in similar occu- 

 pations. On the conclusion of his visit he 

 wrote to Wyville Thomson on January 23, 

 1877: 



I can't tell you what a pleasant time I have 

 had in Edinburgh, thanks to you and Lady Thom- 

 son. It is really the first time since the death of 

 father and my wife that I have felt in the least 

 as if there were anything to live for, and I hope 

 you have put me on the track to get into harness 

 again and do my share of the work r5iave to do, 

 if not with pleasure, at least cheerfully. 



During the last thirty-five years of his 

 life Alexander Agassiz 's activities and 

 interests were many and varied. The 

 control and direction of the Calumet and 

 Hecla mines demanded frequent visits to 

 the west, and there we find him conducting 

 valuable experiments in the distribution 

 of underground temperatures in the great 

 depths of the mine. We also find him 

 producing carbonic acid gas to put out a 

 disastrous fire in the mines — said to be the 

 first time this method was thus employed 

 on a large scale. 



The first American attempt to found 

 a zoological station at Penikese having 

 failed, he established a zoological labora- 

 tory at Newport to take its place, equip- 

 ping it with all the necessary appliances 

 and accommodations for twelve students. 

 This institution was carried on for twenty- 

 five years — till it was no longer necessary 

 owing to the establishment of the Woods 

 Hole Marine Biological Station. 



The important series of oceanographical 

 or deep-sea investigations with which his 

 name is so closely associated have won for 



