86 



Louis Agassiz. 



in referring to it writes : Great was the emotion at 

 Neuchatel when the report was spread abroad that 

 Agassiz was about to leave for a long journey. It 

 is true he promised to come back, but the New 

 World might shower upon him such marvels that his 

 return could hardly be counted upon. The young 

 people, the students, regretted their beloved profes- 

 sor not only for his scientific attainments, but for 

 his kindly disposition, the charm of his eloquence, 

 the inspiration of his teaching ; they regretted also 

 the gay, animated, untiring companion of their ex- 

 cursions, who made them acquainted with nature, 

 and knew so well how to encourage and interest them 

 in their studies.'* 



One of the brightest features in Agassiz^s charac- 

 ter, is the fact that he sank all personal interests in 

 science. He was devoted to it, his life seemed a con- 

 secration to the dissemination of knowledge. This 

 is well shown in a letter to Professor Silliman, writ- 

 ten previous to his trip to America and published in 

 the America?! Joitrnal of Science^ 1874: In order 

 to prepare for the extra expense, I shall be obliged 

 to live very economically and in a manner little in 

 accordance with the royal munificence which has 

 furnished the means of making this journey.'* 

 And again : " My sphere is entirely too circumscribed 

 by the scientific world, and all my ambition is limi- 

 ted to being useful to the branch of science I 

 particularly cultivate. With all this I am no misan- 

 thrope ; but I learned early that when one has no 

 fortune, one cannot serve science and at the same 

 time live in the v/orld. If I have been able to pro- 



