204 



Louis Agassiz. 



will it not," he asks, be as good as to see his pre- 

 scription at the apothecary's? " — a suggestion that 

 is appreciated when we remember that Agassiz's 

 father at this time was strenuously endeavouring to 

 have him adopt the profession of medicine. 



This work alluded to still stands as one of the 

 most valuable on the subject to which it relates. 



Agassiz's second venture, in which he was assisted 

 by Cotta, the noted publisher, was a work on the 

 natural history of Wv^ Fresh-Water Fishes of Europe, 

 a portion of which was issued in 1839-40, but never 

 entirely completed. He communicated the infor- 

 mation of this great undertaking to his parents in a 

 letter from Munich in 1829. He was then anxiously 

 awaiting the reviews of his Brazilian Fishes^ and 

 for the verdict, though fairly sure of a welcome from 

 the scientific press of the day. The work on fresh- 

 water fishes he planned to issue in numbers, each 

 to contain twelve coloured plates. The young author 

 proposed to announce his new undertaking at the 

 meeting of savants and naturalists which was to be 

 held at Heidelberg, when he intended to distribute 

 his circulars. Cuvier, to whom the Brazilian Fishes 

 had been dedicated, and who was highly pleased 

 with the work, promised to aid in its sale in every 

 way. He also expressed great interest in the forth- 

 coming work on fresh-water fishes, pointing out to 

 Agassiz that there was room for such a work as the 

 one he proposed, as the illustrations of those of 

 Block, Marsigli, and others were not correct. 



Between the publication of more important works 

 came special papers, monographs, communications 



