﻿In Memoriam — Louis Agassiz. 



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was in accordance with, and perhaps the outgrowth of, those " di- 

 versions of fishing and collecting insects" while a boy at the 

 gymnasium in Bienne, it was very distasteful to his parents, who 

 remonstrated against this devotion to science, and the neglect of 

 his medical studies, and finding persuasion ineffectual, withdrew 

 the small allowance he had formerly received from his father. 



But a young man of such marked scientific attainments and in- 

 domitable perseverance was not likely to suffer for want of friends. 

 Cotta, the great German publisher, and later, Mr. Christinat, a 

 friend of his father, freely supplied him with funds to continue his 

 studies and investigations. Meantime he received the degrees of 

 doctor of philosophy at Erlangen, and doctor of medicine at 

 Munich, passing the required examinations with unusual distinction. 



He was now prosecuting with great vigor the preparation of his 

 remarkable works on the fresh-water fishes, and the fossil fishes of 

 Europe, in the interests of which he traveled over the most of 

 Europe, accompanied by a skillful artist, collecting specimens, 

 and examining the collections in the various museums; and to 

 show how great an interest was universally felt in his researches, 

 and the confidence which he inspired, it is stated that "he was al- 

 lowed to take with him and keep for examination and comparison, 

 the most valuable specimens of more than eighty public and 

 private museums, some of which he was permitted to retain from 

 five to ten years, in order the better to compare and describe 

 them." 



At Paris he became the attached friend of Cuvier and Hum- 

 boldt. Cuvier had just begun his great work on fishes, and was 

 so delighted with the drawings exhibited to him by Agassiz, ' 'that 

 he offered to relinquish to him all the materials he had himself col- 

 lected" — the most sublime instance of devoted friendship of which 

 I have any knowledge. Upon the death of Cuvier, in 1832, and 

 when but twenty-five years old, Agassiz returned to Switzerland, 

 by invitation, and was appointed Professor of Natural History in 

 the College of Neuchatel, holding the position until he came to 

 America. 



At thirty years of age he was a member of nearly every scien- 

 tific academy of Europe, and had received the degree of doctor of 



