The Cruise of the ''Bibb'' 149 



opening her doors, and was prevailed upon to accept 

 the appointment of non-resident professor. A me- 

 morial tablet in the chapel of the university testifies 

 to the appreciation of the trustees of the important 

 part he took in the opening days of the institution. 



Agassiz's ambition to see the museum at Cam- 

 bridge the leading institution of the kind in the 

 world was now in a fair way to be realized. The 

 Legislature, appreciating what he had done, gave 

 him seventy-five thousand dollars for an additional 

 building, and by private subscriptions this was 

 doubled, so that the treasures from Brazil could 

 be well cared for. In referring to the act of the 

 Legislature, Agassiz wrote in his report : 



'' While I rejoice in the prospect of this new build- 

 ing, as affording the means for a complete exhibition 

 of the specimens now stored in our cellars and attics 

 and encumbering every room of the present edifice, 

 I yet can hardly look forward to the time when we 

 shall be in possession of it without shrinking from 

 the grandeur of our undertaking. The past history 

 of our science rises before me with its lessons. 

 Thinking men in every part of the world have been 

 stimulated to grapple with the infinite variety of 

 problems connected with the countless animals 

 scattered without apparent order throughout sea and 

 land. They have been led to discover the affinities 

 of various living beings. The past has yielded up 

 its secrets, and has shown them that the animals now 

 peopling the earth are but the successors of countless 

 populations which have preceded them, and whose 

 remains are buried in the crust of our globe. Further 



