46 



Louis Agassiz, 



arrival in Paris he had called upon Baron von Hum- 

 boldt regarding a publisher, and he had offered to 

 write to Cotta in his behalf. The latter did not re- 

 ply, and days lengthened into weeks of suspense, and 

 the young scientist was as near despair as his buoyant 

 nature would permit. He determined to face the 

 inevitable — to renounce his hopes of becoming a sci- 

 entist, almost convinced that he had made the good 

 fight as far as he could go without compromising 

 himself. He decided to discharge Dinkel the artist, 

 who had done so much for him, and to return to his 

 native town and become a teacher, and in this way 

 endeavour to earn a living. What it must have cost 

 Agassiz to come to this determination we can readily 

 imagine, after having followed him through so many 

 difficulties and noted the intense enthusiasm and 

 ambition which characterised his every movement. 



But the young naturalist was not destined to be 

 diverted from the path of science. One day he 

 received a letter from Humboldt, couched in the most 

 delicate and friendly language, with an accompany- 

 ing letter of credit for one thousand francs. The aid 

 was so timely that it seemed to Agassiz almost a mirac- 

 ulous intervention ; it was one of the small events in 

 the life of the man that was destined to produce great 

 results. Agassiz opened his heart to his benefactor, 

 and from this time on they became close friends. 



The attention of the young Swiss was now turned 

 to the attainment of a professorship in some college 

 in his own country, and in this endeavour Humboldt 

 aided him in every way. Finally, one day in June, 

 1832, he received a letter from M. Coulon, of 



