368 Coe — A Century of Zoology in America. 



describing many new species, were published in the Jour- 

 nal (17, 297, 353, 1854). 



Agassiz 's beautifully illustrated "Contributions to the 

 Natural History of the United States" cover many sub- 

 jects in morphology and embryology, which are treated 

 with such thoroughness and breadth of view as to give 

 them a place among the zoological classics. The Essay 

 on Classification, the North American Testudinata, the 

 Embryology of the turtle, and the Acalephs are the 

 special topics. These are summarized and discussed at 

 length in the Journal (25, 126, 202, 321, 342, 1858 ; 30, 

 142,1860; 31,295,1861). 



The volume on the "Journey in Brazil" (1868) in joint 

 authorship with Mrs. Agassiz is a fascinating narrative 

 of exploration. 



The conceptions which Agassiz held as to the most 

 essential aim of zoological study are well illustrated 

 in his autobiographical sketch, where, he writes : 3 



''I did not then know how much more important it is to the 

 naturalist to understand the structure of a few animals, than 

 to command the whole field of scientific nomenclature. Since I 

 have become a teacher, and have watched the progress of stu- 

 dents, I have seen that they all begin in the same way; but 

 how many have grown old in the pursuit, without ever rising 

 to any higher conception of the study of 'nature, spending their 

 life in the determination of species, and in extending scientific 

 terminology ! ' ' 



It is not surprising, then, that under such influence the 

 older systematic studies should be replaced in large 

 measure by those of a morphological and embryological 

 nature. 



The personal influence of Agassiz is still felt in the 

 lives of even the younger zoologists of the present day. 

 For the investigators of the present generation are for 

 the most part indebted to one or another of Agassiz's 

 pupils for their guidance in zoological studies. These 

 pupils include his son Alexander Agassiz, Allen, Brooks, 

 Clarke, Fewkes, Goode, Hyatt, Jordan, Lyman, Morse, 

 Packard, Scudder, Verrill, "Wilder, and others — leaders 

 in zoological work during the last third of the nineteenth 

 century. Through such men as these the inspiration of 



3 Louis Agassiz : his Life and Correspondence, by Elizabeth Carey 

 Agassiz, p. 145, 1885. 



