LOUIS AGASSIZ. 783 



pointed out the cause of a large series of geological phenomena. His 

 papers on this subject are numerous, and will be found in the ' Transactions 

 of the British Association' for 1840, in the 3d volume of the ' Proceedings 

 of the Geological Society,' in the 18th volume of the 'Philosophical Maga- 

 zine,' third series ; and in the 6th volume of the ' Annals and Magazine of 

 Natural History.' " 



In 1846, Agassiz came to the United States to continue his explorations 

 and to fulfil an engagement to deliver a course of Lectures on the Animal 

 Kingdom before the Lowell Institute at Boston. The lectures excited much 

 interest and were followed in successive seasons by three other courses on 

 Natural History before the same institution. While these were in progress 

 he had, at the close of 1847, accepted the appointment of Professor of 

 Zoology and Botany in the scientific school founded by Mr. Abbott Law- 

 rence, in connection with Harvard University at Cambridge. He became 

 a master of English composition, and spoke the language not only with 

 fluency, but with a voluble eloquence which was peculiarly his own. He 

 studied the modes of thought among the people, and learned to know in 

 what they differed from the European. His family ties, his household, his 

 associates were of the country ; and yet, after all, he was unchanged. A 

 genius like his could put itself in communication with many and different 

 people ; it could grow also, but it could not change. In the following year 

 he was engaged, with some of his pupils, in a scientific exploration of the 

 shores of Lake Superior, the results of which were published in a volume 

 written by Mr. Elliott Cabot and others, entitled " Lake Superior." In con- 

 junction with Dr. A. A. Gould, of Boston, Professor Agassiz published in 

 the same year a work on " The Principles of Zoology." Devoting himself 

 to an assiduous practical study of the natural history of the country, he 

 visited its most important portions in the Atlantic and Gulf States, the 

 valley of the Mississippi, and the regions of the Rocky Mountains. In 1850, 

 he spent a winter upon the reefs of Florida, in the service of the United 

 States Coast Survey; and subsequently, during the winter of 1852-53, was 

 Professor of Comparative Anatomy in the Medical College of Charleston, 

 S. C, which afforded him the opportunity of making other scientific re- 

 searches in the southern region and seaboard. The results of his investiga- 

 tions in these various journeys have been given to the world in a series of 

 volumes in quarto entitled " Contributions to the Natural History of the 

 United States," a work for which an extraordinary popular subscription was 

 obtained. 



On the death of Mr. F. C. Gray, in 1858, it was found that he had left 



