1907. | Louis Agassiz, Teacher. 605 
sures. But his attitude toward student misconduct was clearly shown in 
an incident recorded by me elsewhere.’ The method pursued by Agassiz 
with his laboratory students has been described by Scudder.* Although 
I was to prepare specimens at his personal expense, a somewhat similar 
test was applied. He placed before me a dozen young “ acanths ” (dog- 
fish sharks) telling me to find out what I could about them. After three 
days he gave me other specimens, saying, ‘‘ When you go back to the 
little sharks you will know more about them than if you kept on with 
them now;” meaning, I suppose, that I should then have gained a better 
perspective. 
Although, as I recall upon several occasions, Agassiz could express 
his views delightfully and impressively to a single auditor, his eminently 
social nature and his lifelong habit rendered it easier for him to address 
a group of interested listeners. The following incident does not seem 
to have been recorded in my diary, but it is distinctly remembered. 
During the publication of the “ Journey in Brazil,” a French translation 
was made by M. Felix Vogeli. With this the publishers desired to incor- 
porate a chapter giving the latest views of Agassiz upon Classification 
and Evolution. In vain was he besought to write it. He hated writing, 
and was too busy. At last, in desperation, M. Vogeli came to the Museum 
with Mrs. Agassiz, and together they persuaded the Professor to dictate 
the required matter in the form of a lecture. For this, however, an 
audience was indispensable. The exigency was explained to the Museum 
staff; we assembled in the lecture-room and the discourse began. To the 
dismay of some of us it proved to be in French, but we tried to look as 
if we comprehended it all. 
Agassiz handled all specimens with greatest care and naturally had 
little patience with clumsiness ; the following incident illustrates both his 
kindly spirit and his self-restraint. At one of the lectures he had handed 
down for inspection a very rare and costly fossil, from the coal measures 
I think ; including the matrix, it had about the size and shape of the palm of 
the hand. He cautioned us not to drop it. When it had reached about the 
middle of the audience a crash was heard. ‘The precious thing had been 
dropped by a new and somewhat uncouth assistant whom we will call Dr. 
X. He hastily gathered up the pieces and rushed out of the room. For 
a few seconds Agassiz stood as if himself petrified; then, without even 
an ‘ Excuse me,” he vanished by thesame door. Presently he returned, 
flushed, gazing ruefully at the fragments in his hand, covered with muci- 
lage or liquid glue. After a pause, during which those who knew him 
1 “ Agassiz at Penikese,’”’ American Naturalist, March, 1898, p. 194. 
2 Every Saturday, vol. 16, pp. 369-370. Reproduced in Marcou’s Life, Letters and 
Works of Agassiz, vol. 2, p. 94. 
