The Agassiz Association, 



197 



and a belief that education is incomplete unless it 

 includes some practical knowledge of the common 

 objects that surround us." A similar association 

 had flourished for some years in Switzerland, and the 

 American society grew rapidly in interest. In 1880 

 it was taken up by the St. Nicholas, and so, from 

 the little society in the Berkshire Hills, sprang the 

 hundreds of chapters that bear the name of Agassiz 

 from one end of North America to the other. The 

 societies were formed in schools, in towns, villages, 

 in fact wherever there were a few persons interested 

 in natural history. While visiting an island in the 

 Pacific, about thirty miles off the coast of California, 

 the author was surprised and delighted to find that, 

 though there were but few permanent inhabitants on 

 the island, there was a chapter of the Agassiz Asso- 

 ciation. Even in this remote island the name of the 

 great naturalist was revered, and gave inspiration to 

 a few persons who gathered regularly to discuss 

 the specimens that formed the stock in trade of a 

 local curiosity dealer. 



The Agassiz Association is a free school of natural 

 history, to include any one old and young, and from 

 schools it has spread so that, according to Mr. Ballard, 

 about two thousand clubs have been enrolled since 

 1880, ranging from two or three members up to one 

 hundred and fifty, which is the membership list of 

 the Fitchburg, Mass., Chapter, No. 448. This chapter 

 has accomplished much, has published a Flora of 

 Fitchburg and Vicinity," and issued many valuable 

 papers on the fauna and flora of the locality. Mr. 

 Ballard has received the co-operation of many scien- 



