196 NATUKAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



PENIKESE— A Reminiscence. 



By One of its Pupils. 



Copyright secured 1895. 



made to those same "non-evolutionists," since one of 

 the evolutionist's grand theorems is, that "no one has 

 as yet even defined what a species is." The non-evo- 

 lutionists do not seek to make species, genus, family, 

 orders, branch, and such like divisions of the animal 

 kingdom synonymous with the term individual, as do 

 the evolutionists, though they, the former, do believe 

 in the universal oneness — if we may so call it — of 

 matter, as well as in its indistructibility. 



As, at length, I draw near to the conclusion of my 

 task — a most delightful and pleasant task, I admit — 

 of sketching, for my readers' benefit, the history of 

 Penikese Island; what crowds of memories press 

 around and upon me: Memories that I have written 

 about and memories that I have not written about, 

 but which yet hover around and about places hallow- 

 ed by the mysterious ever present presence of him 

 whose memory is dear to so many. As I draw near 

 to the conclusion of my task; I fear both what I have 

 written and what I have not written. What I have 

 written, that it ought not to have been written, and 

 what I have not written that it ought to have been 

 written. Yet, such as it, it must stand. My object 

 has been not to transcribe to you a dull, dry, monot- 

 onous diary of facts — difficult to digest. — but rather, 

 by a taste of our pleasures and enjoyments, to leave 

 the mind of the reader in a state of anticipation and 

 desire to explore Nature and the mysteries of Nature; 

 for, thereby, is gained profit, delight, wonderment, 

 satisfaction, and everything that is in harmony with 

 our being and our eternal welfare. We come nearer 

 to our fellowman and closer to our God, in a study of 

 all creation and of created objects; and so, at least 

 thus I believe, do we fulfill better our mission here 

 upon the earth, to "know even as we are known." 



During the session of the school the Agassiz Natur- 

 al History Club met weekly for discussion of scientific 

 subjects, and for suggestions as to the work going for- 

 ward and to be pursued. Here teacher and pupil met 

 upon equal footing and freely discussed all questions. 

 Even practical Professor Meyer became eminently 

 scientific and, at a suggestion, turned his physics to 

 the settling of many an otherwise abstruce problem. 

 Of one in particular, namely, that of testing, by act- 

 ual experiment, if insects could hear with their anten- 

 nae — that delicate organ of the functions of which we 

 know so little. He so arranged a male mosquito, 

 upon one of the slides of his lantern, that he threw its 

 image, enlarged several thousand times, upon a large 

 white sheet. Then he vibrated tuning forks near to 

 them, and, by noting the antennae of the insect, we 

 were enabled both to propound and to answer ques- 

 tions that would otherwise have puzzled the ablest 

 scientists. 



Thus passed our days! The last, as prolific of in- 

 terest as the first. Alas! They no longer exist, save 

 in the memory of teacher and of pupil. 



But a few words more, and the gleam of my candle, 

 growing fainter and fainter, leaves darkness once 

 again. Darkness, I say; yes, darkness — save for the 

 memory of that gleam: A. Recollectton. 



last time, in the lecture room, Monday evening, Au- 

 gust 31st. 



Its business was simply "to consider the resolution 

 drawn up by the committee," appointed for this pur- 

 pose at a previous meeting, "on the death of Profes- 

 sor Louis Agassiz." It was accepted by the club, "as 

 an expression from the club, of their sympathy with 

 the friends of, and their love and respect for, the pro- 

 fessor taken from among them so suddenly." The 

 resolution was as follows: — 



"Whereas, it has been decided that we, the mem- 

 bers of the Agassiz Natural History Club, attempt 

 an expression, in resolution, of our feelings upon 

 the departure of our beloved leader, and our sym- 

 pathy in this great bereavement with the many who 

 have learned to speak his name in the accents of 

 tenderness and affection, therefore, it is 



"Resolved, That in the close of the grand life of Pro- 

 fessor Louis Agassiz we mourn the loss of a good 

 citizen, an earnest student, a great teacher, a faith- 

 ful friend, a true Christian, a lover of his fellow- 

 men and of God; that, though words utterly fail to 

 express the estimation in which we hold his noble 

 example and teachings, we may yet show to the 

 world our appreciation of the light that is gone in 

 our works and lives, and that from the bottoms of 

 our hearts we do sympathize with all to whom his 

 memory is dear." 



On the 14th of December, 1878, in the sixty-sixth 

 year of his age, Professor Agassiz passed away. 



A boulder from his beloved Alps alone marks his 

 resting-place at Auburn, city of the dead: — while 

 lilies bloom about him (white lilies-of-the-valley, are 

 they too); the birds and insects make music above 

 him ; and, while the world endures, his memory shall 

 never fade. 



The story is completed by the recent notice of the 

 complete destruction, by fire, of the school buildings, 

 which can now be viewed by picture only. Alas, in- 

 deed! Penikese Island is now only a memory! 



The Agassiz Society of Natural History met, for the 



