A Personal S... Agassiz

Prof Bixty-five ysvra f( ■ i". an I Hviast naturalist. In tha fo-a-vi, ori'i'ni-i'. ín for t'ie last h-ilf oa : ■ on tbc bvi; i 1 proti itly ib iv i Cavicr s lg, DesoendH 'lV).ii the ifng ra ' inoo, h i fertrn a Swisa no:r Late Neucfb Proal' jÈhe Ao ' Lausanne 'o urich, and thenoe "to the Uniyersity of Hoidolborg, at Munich w Vienna, lio ■was the pupil, and rarly in his manhood bo3arti8 tho poor of the íirst naturalista of Eiuopö. The pupil of Olcon, tüe zoplogist ; of Sïartins, the botrtnist ; of Dollinpor, thn fowañoT at modern ptiysiologr; with Wagler, Shclliiis; and othere, fae soon rose to a distinction which, fit tho death of Spix, brought ïnto his hands the cl'iboration of the "Ichthyology of the ïlvazïlian Expedition" of the Ba-varfan Government- a folio in Litin- and the task was so ably dnne thn.t it plaooJ hira at once in the foremost rank of natnrat ïsts. His second work was the " Fresh Water Fish of Europe." Thenoe at, Vionnn. lio bocean his renowned wuk on " Fowil Fishes," and closed it after tea years' lnbor in 1814. It was issusd in fivo volumes and a quarto of five huridrod platos, by the peouniary aid of Humboldt, witli wliom he formwï a lara'ínj? friendship. Protn 18:3(5 to 181.3 Agassiz spont lus suramer vacations in the Alp?, with his pupils, studying the glaciers. Tire rcsult was two volumes, the most ■valniblé extani on iho eubjec 184G Ilumboldt suggested to the King of Prussia the visit of Agassiz to Amorica to bccome familiar with the natural history and goology of the country. 1to years were ailotted and ampie provisión' made by that government. From thií date the biagraphy of Agassiz belinrs to the sciontifto history of the United States. He arrived in 1 846, and and at'tor deliveiing his Lowell lectures in Boston was invited to avail himself of all the facnlïties for travel at the cominand of our coa&t survey. In these t'wonty-fiVe or more years, besides the 'dütiês' of his professorship at Harvard jtnd his nu'.nerous coutsus of loctures, he has trav'erged the wKoTè cxtont of Air erica from Lnke Superior to the Gulf of 3texieo, from the AÜantie to the íís-jíssippi, across the continent and along the "Pai-iiie noast. Ho ako made the Thayer expidition to Brazil, up the Amazon and to Eío. The rausauin at I ;e, costina; -uou.ooo, largely fflled witfi specimen preparad under his own directioti, or gatherod by his aid, was planned by fcim and ereotod under his supervisión, and already in cxtont and value will challón oro oomparison with any of th; uld world. In his early career heré he married tho grandanghter of tbe late Thomas ïlandysede Perkins, of Boston, who ha= Bhared in ;M his labors and travels, keeping daily record of discoverios and evento. America is therefore bis home for all the residuo of his Hfe. v ho, among all her scholars of native or aaoJJled citiz5ns, oañ R-wiiely organice n.Ti'l make t.rutht'ul iu the general intelligance, and in vnst mftterial values, a eohool of naturalists sinh as ho proposes? II the brief poiiod of his active lifo yet remiining om be investod in the frranil ivork of applying seionco practically to the productiva interest et' his adopted country, he should not want eren tbr several millinnp of dollars with whieb. to lo ft. The endowraent of all buildings and 'properfy of tho school, it will bo secn are to he held by the ttustoes and offiuers of the Museum f Zoology, at Cambridge and by its connectioa with the Pi Tsland's instruotiou will afford a continuóos sourco to such as dosire it. This school will not belong to H irvard Colleío or the State of Massachusetta, bui ■TÍ11 be controllcd porpetually by tbes( otricers as a school for tho benefit of tho whole country. It will be, as Prof. Ag-assiz desires it, national in its aim anc scopo. I