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demonstrated that not only had Switzerland been affected by an 

 epoch of glaciation, but the Scandinavian Peninsula and the 

 British Islands, so that the glacial theory was generally accepted 

 for Europe. Agassiz proclaimed his belief that it would be found 

 equally applicable to the whole northern hemisphere, and one of 

 the motives which led him to come to America was his ardent 

 desire to see for himself whether the glacial record was the same 

 for the New as for the Old World. So, almost as soon as the 

 steamer which brought him reached its dock he hurried to the hills 

 that surround Massachusetts Bay, and there to his great delight 

 in the roches moutonnes and beds of boulder clay, found proof of 

 the former presence of glaciers which no one had previously recog. 

 nized. In Maine, Massachusetts, and other parts of New England 

 he continued his observations until he had worked out all the 

 generalities of the history of the Ice Period in eastern North 

 America. At the same time he inspired an interest in the subject 

 which set many others at work on the problem, and it was soon 

 found that the Ice Period had left here its most impressive record, 

 and that at its maximum, fields of ice and snow reached down 

 to New York, Cincinnati and St. Louis, enveloped all the highlands 

 of the West and indeed occupied fully half the continent. Many 

 years before his death Agassiz had the satisfaction of knowing that 

 his theory was applicable to the whole northern hemisphere, and 

 had the pleasure of studying in southern South America a similar 

 though perhaps not synchronous record. 



The results of the glacial studies of Agassiz and his associates 

 have never been fully published, but the most important of the 

 observed facts and the inferences deducible from them are given 

 in his Systeme Glaciere and Etudes sur les Glaciers, the most im- 

 portant contribution yet made to the abundant literature of this 

 subject. These splendid works, with his monographs on fossil 

 fishes, his Natural History of the United States and other publica- 

 tions, constitute a monument to his ability and industry which 

 should satisfy the ambition for scientific fame of any man ; but 

 enviable as is the lot of one who has ability and opportunity to 

 make such investigations and leave such a record as he has con- 

 tributed to science, still the publications of Agassiz, voluminous 



