36 



Louis Agassiz. 



prepare himself for the forced marches which he 

 supposed would be a part of the explorer's life. 



Such was the intense ambition of Agassiz at this 

 time, and we need not be surprised that his parents 

 finally relinquished the idea of seeing him a physi- 

 cian and consented that he should follow the line in 

 which he was drifting. He was now free to look 

 forward to a future in accordance with his wishes. 

 He felt sure that the work on fishes, upon which he 

 was engaged, would give him a reputation that would 

 place a professorship within reach, and he bent all 

 his energies to obtain the degree of Doctor of Phil- 

 osophy; principally because it would aid in the 

 professorship, and because Martius desired him to 

 have a prefix to his name on the title-page of the 

 great work on fishes. Agassiz, Schimper, and Micha- 

 helles all made application for examination at the 

 same time, addressing the Faculty in long letters in 

 Latin to that effect (as Agassiz naively said, Because, 

 you know, among savants it is the thing to speak 

 and write the language you know least Per- 

 mission was granted the young men and they were 

 put on honour not to obtain aid in anyway from out- 

 side sources. The examination was by no means 

 easy, yet Agassiz passed it with honour, and so be- 

 came a Doctor of Philosophy at the early age of 

 twenty-one years. 



The first part of the Brazilian Fishes was now pub- 

 lished, — a proud event indeed for the young author. 

 The first copies were sent to Cuvier, to whom it was 

 dedicated, and the second to his parents, who were 

 more than delighted at the first great effort of their 



