132 



NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



PENIKESE — A Reminiscence. 



By One of its Pupils. 



Copyright secured 189?. 

 ed as he closed the lense and replaced it in his pock- 

 et, and handed me back the specimen with the re- 

 mark, "I will give you three weeks, Mr. — — , in 

 which to find out what it is." He then proceeded 

 with his own business as if nothing had happened. 

 The following afternoon I accidently discovered that 

 my specimen was the cornea of a crab's eye, which 

 had accidently become detached from some speci- 

 men I had captured, and which had remained in the 

 bottom of the net after its Owner had been removed. 

 "That man could get more out of me in three week's 

 time, than anybody else I was ever under in three 

 years," was the remark of one of his pupils to me. 

 Why! For in seeking one point, he forced from you 

 one hundred that you had not even suspected as ex- 

 isting before you began your search for it, all follow- 

 ing each other as a natural sequence. He was a 

 wonderful man, with a wonderful receptivity and ex- 

 tensive memory, and a wonderful capacity for teach- 

 ing others; but words fail me in endeavoring to render 

 a just estimate of his character. 



The History of the School. 



I have now introduced you to Penikese. Before 

 unfolding the plan of our work there, bear with me a 

 little, while I go back and rehearse somewhat of the 

 history of the school thereon, since it is very prop- 

 erly a part of our little volume. 



Before starting for Penikese Island, we had each of 

 us received a variety of letters and circulars, both 

 printed and written, relating to and descriptive of the 

 manner in which the school was to be conducted, and 

 the line of study to be pursued there. From the na- 

 ture of the case, I judge that all of the scholars re- 

 ceived similar information. I do not possess all of 

 these valuable papers, I only wish that I did, but 

 those which I have embrace the most important ones, 

 and are fully sufficient for our present purpose. We 

 will open the package and select those which seem 

 most clearly to convey to us a knowledge of the in- 

 tentions of the founders, and of Professor Agassiz, 

 regarding both the school and its pupils. 



The first letter, in order of time, appears to bear 

 the stamp of Professor Agassiz's personal dictation 

 and so I will quote it entirely: 



Cambridge, Mass., 



May 18, 1873. 



Dear Madam:* 



Applications for admission to the Anderson School 

 of Natural History are pouring in at an embarrassing 

 rate. Among the latest applications there are some 

 which seem to me to have higher claims than pre- 

 ceding ones. I therefore appeal to all who have al- 

 ready been admitted to state again how important it 

 may be for themselves, or for the cause of education 

 in general, that their individual case should be recog- 

 nized, as fifty persons only can be accommodated in 

 the laboratories of Penikese. To some, admission 

 next year may perhaps be quite as useful as this year. 

 Any failure to answer this request within a fortnight 

 will be considered as a resignation. 



Very truly yours, 



L. Agassiz. 



* This letter was addressed to a young man whose Christian name 

 was so similar a name often applied to a lady, that the applicant was 

 supposed to be such. 



The above is Professor Agassiz's autograph. The 

 circular to which it is appended was a written one, 

 and was, I believe, the very first that was sent to the 

 successful candidates. The letter of acceptance 

 being (at least my own was), a personal one from 

 the professor himself, such at least is my present im- 

 pression. You may be quite sure that there was no 

 "resignation" recorded to my name, and I answered 

 the communication with so much dispatch, and withal 

 so appealingly, that the return mail brought me 

 another from Professor Agassiz himself, short and to 

 the point, telling me to have no fear for or doubt of 

 my acceptance as a scholar of the school at Penikese, 

 "even though another questioning circular should 

 reach you shortly." 



During the early part of the winter pf 1872, Prof- 

 essor Agassiz had contemplated opening a school of 

 similar character to that which Penikese. proved to be, 

 on the Island of Nantucket or some point upon the 

 mainland, perhaps at Wood's Hole. He had even 

 printed a circular which advertised a "Course of In- 

 struction in Natural History, to be delivered by the 

 seaside, in Nantucket, during the summer months, 

 chiefly designed for teachers who propose to intro- 

 duce the Study into their Schools, and for Students 

 preparing to become Teachers." He had selected 

 his corps of instructors and lecturers, and assigned 

 them the branches which he wished them and which 

 he saw they were most fitted to teach: It contained 

 the names of N. S. Shaler, Count L. F. de Pour- 

 talf.s, Dr. H. A. Hag en, A. S. Packard, F. W. 

 Putnam, J. A. Allen, Spencer F. Baird, Theodore 

 Lyman and many others. By the donation- of Mr. 

 Anderson, the location of the school was now defin- 

 itely settled; and the work pushed forward with the 

 greatest vigor. It was this same advertisement, in 

 substance, that was sent to the pupils and friends of 

 Penikese. 



The work of preparing Penikese for the school to 

 be held there, was commenced on the 20th of April, 

 at which time a site for the buildings was selected 

 and a general plan of operations arranged. In show- 

 ing the dispatch with which Professor Agassiz con- 

 summated this — as in fact he did all of his plans — 

 his grand, culminating life work, a few words from 

 one of his reports says: "The plans were at once 

 completed, and by the 16th of May the contract was 

 made for the building. On the 28th of Ma)' the 

 timber arrived from Maine in New Bedford. There 

 the building was framed. On the 5th of June the 

 first cargo reached Penikese, and the first building 

 was raised on the 14th of June." We have seen, in 

 a previous chapter, how the school began upon the 

 day on which it was advertised to begin, July 8. Incred- 

 ible dispatch! Provident accomplishment! 



The same day that the timber for the buildings 

 reached New Bedford, the following circular was is- 

 sued: — 



"Museum of Comparative Zoology, 



"Cambridge, Mass., May 28, 1873. 



"My Dear M 



"In attempting to organize a School of Natural 

 History upon an entirely new plan, I assume a grave 

 responsibility which must, in a measure, be shared by 

 those who may seek insruction there. To avoid dis- 

 appointment, I feel it my duty to say what I propose 

 to do, that those who may not like my course should 

 be able in time to give up their intention Of placing 

 themselves under my direction. It is proper, also, to 

 add, that the applications for admission are very nu- 



