— lb — 



have enabled the student to comprehend the full scopeof the reply. 



Professor Agassiz represents the model teacher because he knew 

 subjects, and not merely about subjects. His references were not 

 to opinions and conjectures, but to things themselves ; the former 

 he knew, he was not a stranger to the latter. Professor Agassiz was 

 eminently an educator by virtue of his characteristic enthusiasm. 

 We meet men, who are able by charm of voice, or grace of pres- 

 ence to awaken interest in the cause which they espouse; it is rare 

 to find one who implants the germs of an enthusiasm which develops 

 and strengthens with the years. His presence never chilled, it 

 awakened new interest ; with his absence he did not withdraw the 

 inspiration which had been in-breathed by his presence. 



Professor Agassiz was America's greatest educator by reason of 

 his unselfish devotion to the discovery and the promulgation of 

 scientific truth. 



Penikese was the outgrowth of this element in his nature. Many 

 earnest students were toiling with indifferent success because of 

 their lack of acquaintance with scientific method and with scien- 

 tific results. Professor Agassiz saw this source of embarrassment, 

 this hindrance to the growth and spread of truth. His own de- 

 light in the study of nature, his firm conviction that such study 

 was most effective in giving scope to scholarship induced him to 

 open this school for training observers. The correctness of his 

 theory, the wisdom of his course, the demand for such a school, 

 the magnitude of the undertaking, are all demonstrated in the mul- 

 tiple summer schools all over the country. Life is being studied 

 to-day with a zeal, a devotion hitherto unknown. 



I believe that I do not overstate the truth when I claim that this 

 directing of attention to the study of nature is tracable to the im- 

 mediate influence of the school at Penikese. Summer schools by 

 the sea, summer schools by the lakes, at the universities, at 

 summer resorts are the direct offspring of the great school founded 

 by our lamented teacher. 



I must allude to the crowning trail, Professor Agassiz's rever- 

 ence. The problems of life which he sought to solve brought him 

 into such close communion with their author that he seemed to un- 

 veil the mystery; in every form of life he saw his Father's handi- 



