24 COMPAKATIVE ZOOLOGY. [Apr. 



gathered from the " heavens above, and the earth beneath, and 

 the waters under the earth." His designs with regard to this 

 institution were not only that it should be the largest and 

 most complete collection of the kind in the world, but that it 

 should be the most significant ; not only the most amazing to 

 the common eye, but the most conclusive and instructive to 

 the eye of science ; not only the most carefully arranged, but 

 the most expressive and striking record ever made of the 

 processes pursued by an All- wise Creater in his handiwork. 

 With this masterly design of Agassiz we have all been more 

 or less intimately acquainted, — some permanently, others 

 temporarily ; some through the medium of large liberality, 

 others by means of civil position ; some from the initial step 

 all through its fascinating and radiant progress, others for an 

 hour in the fullness of its prime ; but all in such manner as 

 to know the ecstatic enthusiasm, the majestic intellect, the 

 untiring force, the keen perception, the vast memory, the 

 sweeping gaze, the almost divine comprehension, which the 

 great master brought to his work — and the gentle, and affec- 

 tionate, and elevating, and purifying influence which he exer- 

 cised over those who were fortunate enough to be connected 

 with him in his lofty service. To be deprived of Agassiz as 

 an official associate is a grievous loss ; to resign him also as a 

 friend and companion, is a deep and overwhelming sorrow. 



When Agassiz came to this country, to commence this work, 

 which he has so sadly and so prematurely laid down, he 

 brought with him a contribution to American institutions 

 which has never been equalled. He came from the intimate 

 companionship of Cuvier, and Oken, and Marlius, and Dol- 

 linger, and Schelling, to whom, as his teachers, he had 

 already, while a youth, opened his "little academy" at Mu- 

 nich, and with whom he established an early rivalry in rapid 

 investigation and analysis. He had been inspired by the 

 companionship of the great Humboldt, with whom he soon 

 learned to keep pace in the breadth of his survey, and the 

 grandeur of his explorations. His unanswerable arguments, 

 based on the glacial movements, had arrested the attention 

 of the scientific world. He brought with him all the scientific 

 honors of Europe ; a member of the Academy of Sciences in 

 Paris ; of the Royal Society in London ; a recipient of the 



