2IO 



Louis Agassiz. 



This chromatic Hthography resembles nothing we 

 have had thus far. What taste has directed the publi- 

 cation ! Then the short descriptions accompanying 

 each plate add singularly to the charm and enjoyment 

 of this kind of study. . . . I not only delivered your 

 letter and the copy with it to the King, but I added 

 a short note on the merit of the undertaking. The 

 counselor of the Royal Cabinet writes me officially 

 that the King has ordered the same number of copies 

 of the Fresh- Water Fishes as the Fossil Fishes — that is 

 to say, ten copies.'' 



Such words, coming from the greatest savant of 

 the day to a young author, cannot have failed to give 

 him renewed courage to fight the battle. 



A feature of Agassiz's works is that they appeal 

 to the layman as well as the scientist, the same grand 

 idea of popularising science underlying all. This is 

 well illustrated in some of his monographs and 

 papers, of which may be mentioned Sur les Monies 

 de Mollusques Vivans et Fossiles, 



As early as 1834 Agassiz published an elaborate 

 paper in the Isis^ entitled Uber die Echinodermen,'' 

 which attracted wide-spread attention. The curious 

 " basket-fish,'' or Astrophyton — a starfish with bifur- 

 cating arms — was described in 1839, so plain and 

 simple is the description that it is delightful reading 

 to those not especially interested in science or the 

 wonders of the Echinodermata. 



The echinoderms were always a favourite study 

 with Agassiz, and he published many papers regard- 

 ing them. In 1838 to 1842 he issued Monographies 

 d' Echinodermes Vivans et Fossiles — a valuable contri- 



