CHAPTER VIII. 



AGASSIZ AND HUMBOLDT. 



Friendship of Humboldt — His Influence on the Life of Agassiz — 

 Discouragement — Aid from an Unexpected Quarter — Humboldt 

 to the Rescue — The New Book — A Professorship Offered. 



E death of Cuvier fell 

 with no little weight 

 upon the young natural- 

 ist. It meant the loss of 

 a friend, whom he had 

 learned to love as well as 

 respect, and again threw 

 him, to a greater or less 

 extent, upon his own re- 

 sources. His parents were 

 importuning him to re- 

 turn to his home and fol- 

 low his profession, and 

 money was as rare as some of his zoological 

 treasures. In the fulness of his enthusiasm Agassiz 

 never utterly desponded, though there were seasons 

 when the clouds looked dark and unpromising, 

 and possibly at no time in his career was he so 

 dejected ; yet the result showed that at least in this 

 instance his cloud had a silver lining. Soon after his 



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