,this e,book was produced by ,avinash   
,kothare1 ,david ,starner  and the      
,online ,distributed ,proofreading ,team
          ,,louis ,,agassiz4            
,,illustrative ,,extracts ,,on ,,his    
,,method ,,of ,,instruction    ,,with   
,,an ,,introductory ,,note    ,,by      
,,lane ,,cooper    ,,professor ,,of     
,,the ,,english ,,language ,,and        
,,literature  ,,in ,,cornell            
,,university4            ,the beauty of 
his better self lives on    ,in minds he
 touched with fire1 in many an eye      
,he trained to ,truth's exact severity2 
,he was a ,teacher3 why be grieved for  
him    ,whose living word still         
stimulates the air8    ,in endless file 
shall loving scholars come    ,the glow 
of his transmitted touch to share4      
--,lowell1 ,agassiz4          ,,preface 
,if it be asked why a teacher of        
,english should be moved to issue this  
book on ,agassiz1 my reply might be3    
',read the ,introductory ,note'-for  the
 answer is there4 ,but doubtless the    

primary reason is that ,i have  been    
taught1 and ,i try to teach others1     
after a method in essence  identical    
with that employed by the great         
naturalist4 ,and ,i might go on  to show
 in some detail that a doctoral         
investigation in the humanities1  when  
the subject is well chosen1 serves the  
same purpose in the  education of a     
student of language and literature as   
the independent1  intensive study of a  
living or a fossil animal1 when         
prescribed by  ,agassiz to a beginner in
 natural science4 ,but there is no need 
to  elaborate the point4 ,of those who  
are likely to examine the book1 some    
already know the underlying truth       
involved1 others will grasp it when  it 
is first presented to them 7and for     
these my slight and pleasant  labors are
 designed71 and the rest will find a    
stumbling-block and  foolishness--save  
for the entertainment to be had in the  
reading of  biography4    ,i have       
naturally kept in mind the needs of my  

own students1 past and  present1 yet ,i 
believe these pages may be useful to    
students of natural  science as well as 
to those who concern themselves with the
 humanities4  ,we live in an age of     
narrow specialization--at all events in 
,america4  ,agassiz was a specialist1   
but not a 'narrow' one4 ,his example    
should  therefore be salutary to those  
persons1 on the one hand1 who think that
  a man can have general culture without
 knowing some one thing from the  bottom
 up1 and1 on the other1 to those who    
immerse themselves and their  pupils    
blindly in special investigation1       
without thought of the  prima           
philosophia that gives life and meaning 
to all particular  knowledge4 ,there can
 be no doubt that science and           
scholarship in this  country are        
suffering from a lack of sympathy and   
contact between the  devotees of the    
several branches1 and for want of       
definite efforts to  bridge the gaps    
between various disciplines wherever    

this is possible4  ,it may not often be 
possible until men of science generally 
again take  up the study of ,plato and  
,aristotle1 or at least busy themselves1
 as  did ,agassiz1 with some            
comprehensive modern philosopher like   
,schelling4  ,but it should not be very 
hard for those who are engaged in the   
biological sciences and those who are   
given to literary pursuits to  realize  
that they are alike interested in the   
manifestations of one and  the same     
thing1 the principle of life4 ,in       
,agassiz himself the vitality  of his   
studies and the vitality of the man are 
easily identified4    ,in conclusion ,i 
must thank the publishers1 ,houghton    
,mifflin ,company1  for the use of      
selections from the copyright books of  
,mrs4 ,agassiz and  ,professor ,shaler2 
these and all other obligations are1 ,i 
trust1  indicated in the proper places  
by footnotes4 ,i owe a special debt of  
gratitude to ,professor ,burt ,g4       
,wilder for his interest and help       

throughout4    ,,lane ,,cooper          
,,cornell ,,university1    ,april #g1   
#aiag4          ,,contents    ,i4       
,,introductory ,,note    ,,ii4          
,,agassiz ,,at ,,neuchatel    ,,iii4    
,,agassiz ,,at ,,harvard    ,,iv4       
,,how ,,agassiz ,,taught ,,professor    
,,shaler    ,v4    ,,how ,,agassiz      
,,taught ,,professor ,,verrill    ,,vi4 
,,how ,,agassiz ,,taught ,,professor    
,,wilder    ,,vii4  ,how ,,agassiz      
,,taught ,,professor ,,scudder          
,,viii4 ,,the ,,death ,,of              
,,agassiz--,,his ,,personality    ,,ix4 
,,obiter ,,dicta ,,by ,,agassiz    ,x4  
,,passages ,,for ,,comparison ,,with    
,,the ,,method ,,of ,,agassiz           
,i    ,,introductory ,,note      ,when  
the question was put to ,agassiz1 ',what
 do you regard as your  greatest work8' 
he replied3 ',i have taught men to      
observe4' ,and in the  preamble to his  
will he described himself in three words
 as ',louis  ,agassiz1 ,teacher4'    ,we
 have more than one reason to be        

interested in the form of  instruction  
employed by so eminent a scientist as   
,agassiz4 ,in the first  place1 it is   
much to be desired that those who       
concern themselves with  pedagogy should
 give relatively less heed to the way in
 which subjects1  abstractly considered1
 ought to be taught1 and should pay more
  attention than ,i fear has been paid  
to the way in which great and           
successful teachers actually have taught
 their pupils4 ,as in other  fields of  
human endeavor1 so in teaching3 there is
 a portion of the art  that cannot be   
taken over by one person from another1  
but there is a  portion1 and a larger   
one than at first sight may appear1 that
 can be  so taken over1 and can be      
almost directly utilized4 ,nor is the   
possible  utility of imitation          
diminished1 but rather increased1 when  
we  contemplate the method of a teacher 
like ,agassiz1 whose mental  operations 
had the simplicity of genius1 and in    
whose habits of  instruction the        

fundamentals of a right procedure become
 very obvious4    ,yet there is a second
 main reason for our interest4 ,within  
recent  years we have witnessed an      
extraordinary development in certain    
studies1 which1 though superficially    
different from those pursued by         
,agassiz1 have an underlying bond of    
unity with them1 but which are          
generally carried on without reference  
to principles governing the             
investigation of every organism and all 
organic life4 ,i have in mind1          
particularly1 the spread of literary and
 linguistic study in ,america  during   
the last few decades1 and the lack of a 
common standard of  judgment among those
 who engage in such study4 ,most persons
 do not1 in  fact1 discern the close1   
though not obvious1 relation between    
investigation in biology or zoology and 
the observation and comparison  of those
 organic forms which we call forms of   
literature and works of  art4 ,yet the  
notion that a poem or a speech should   

possess the organic  structure1 as it   
were1 of a living creature is basic in  
the thought of  the great literary      
critics of all time4 ,so ,aristotle1 a  
zoologist as  well as a systematic      
student of literature1 compares the     
essential  structure of a tragedy to the
 form of an animal4 ,and so ,plato1 in  
the  ,phaedrus1 makes ,socrates say3    
',at any rate1 you will allow that      
every discourse ought to be a living    
creature1 having a body of its  own1 and
 a head and feet2 there should be a     
middle1 beginning1 and end1  adapted to 
one another and to the whole4' ,it would
 seem that to ,plato  an oration        
represents an organic idea in the mind  
of the human creator1  the orator1 just 
as a living animal represents a         
constructive idea in  the mind of ,god4 
,now it happens that ,agassiz1          
considered in his  philosophical        
relations1 was a ,platonist1 since he   
clearly believed  that the forms of     
nature expressed the eternal ideas of a 

divine  intelligence4    ,accordingly1  
his method of teaching cannot fail to be
 illuminating to  the teacher of        
literature--or to the teacher of        
language1 either1  since each language  
as a whole1 and also the component parts
 of  language1 words1 for instance1 are 
living and growing forms1 and must  be  
studied as organisms4 ,we have perhaps  
heard too much of 'laboratory'  methods 
in the teaching of ,english and the     
like2 but none of us has  heard too much
 about the fundamental operations of    
observation and  comparison in the study
 of living forms1 or of the way in which
 great  teachers have developed the     
original powers of the student4 ,it is  
simply the fact that1 reduced to the    
simplest terms1 there is but a  single  
method of investigating the objects of  
natural science and the  productions of 
human genius4 ,we study a poem1 the work
 of man's art1 in  the same way that    
,agassiz made ,shaler study a fish1 the 
work of ,god's  art2 the object in      

either case is to discover the relation 
between form  or structure and function 
or essential effect4 ,it was no chance  
utterance of ,agassiz when he said that 
a year or two of natural  history1      
studied as he understood it1 would give 
the best kind of  training for any other
 sort of mental work4    ,the following 
passages will illustrate ,agassiz's     
ideals and practice  in teaching1 the   
emphasis being laid upon his dealings   
with special  students4 ,a few          
biographical details are introduced in  
order to round  out our conception of   
the personality of the teacher himself4 
,toward  the close1 certain of his      
opinions are given in his own words4    
,i would call special attention to an   
extract from ,boeckh's  ,encyclopadie1  
and another from the ,symposium of      
,plato1 on  pp4 #fi-gd1 and to the      
similarity between the method of study  
there  enjoined upon the student of the 
humanities1 or indeed of all art and    
nature1 and the method imposed by       

,agassiz upon the would-be  entomologist
 who was compelled first of all to      
observe a fish4 ,in  reforming the mind 
it is well to begin by contemplating    
some structure  we never have seen      
before1 concerning which we have no1 or 
the fewest  possible1 preconceptions4   
,,ii    ,,agassiz ,,at ,,neuchatel      
,footnote3 ,from ,e4 ,c4 ,agassiz1      
,louis ,agassiz1 his ,life and          
,correspondence1 pp4 #bjf ff4 ,boston1  
,houghton ,mifflin ,company1 #ahhe4     
,in the autumn of the year #ahcb        
,agassiz assumed the duties of his      
professorship at ,neuchatel4 ,his       
opening lecture1 upon the relations     
between the different branches of       
natural history and the then  prevailing
 tendencies of all the sciences1 was    
given on the #abth of  ,november 444 at 
the ,hotel de ,ville4 ,judged by the    
impression made upon  the listeners as  
recorded at the time1 this introductory 
discourse must  have been characterized 
by the same broad spirit of             

generalization  which marked ,agassiz's 
later teaching4 ,facts in his hands fell
 into  their orderly relation as parts  
of a connected whole1 and were never    
presented merely as special or isolated 
phenomena4 ,from the beginning  his     
success as an instructor was undoubted4 
,he had1 indeed1 now entered  upon the  
occupation which was to be from youth to
 old age the delight  of his life4      
,teaching was a passion with him1 and   
his power over his  pupils might be     
measured by his own enthusiasm4 ,he was 
intellectually1  as well as socially1 a 
democrat1 in the best sense4 ,he        
delighted to  scatter broadcast the     
highest results of thought and research1
 and to  adapt them even to the youngest
 and most uninformed minds4 ,in his     
later  ,american travels he would talk  
of glacial phenomena to the driver of a 
country stagecoach among the mountains1 
or to some workman1 splitting  rock at  
the road-side1 with as much earnestness 
as if he had been  discussing problems  

with a brother geologist2 he would take 
the common  fisherman into his          
scientific confidence1 telling him the  
intimate  secrets of fish-structure or  
fish-embryology1 till the man in his    
turn  became enthusiastic1 and began to 
pour out information from the stores  of
 his own rough and untaught habits of   
observation4 ,agassiz's general  faith  
in the susceptibility of the popular    
intelligence1 however  untrained1 to the
 highest truths of nature1 was          
contagious1 and he  created or developed
 that in which he believed4444          
,beside his classes at the gymnasium1   
,agassiz collected about him1 by        
invitation1 a small audience of friends 
and neighbors1 to whom he  lectured     
during the winter on botany1 on zoology1
 on the philosophy of  nature4 ,the     
instruction was of the most familiar and
 informal  character1 and was continued 
in later years for his own children and 
the children of his friends4 ,in the    
latter case the subjects were  chiefly  

geology and geography in connection with
 botany1 and in  favorable weather the  
lessons were usually given in the open  
air4444  ,from some high ground         
affording a wide panoramic view ,agassiz
 would  explain to them the formation of
 lakes1 islands1 rivers1 springs1 water 
-sheds1 hills1 and valleys4444    ,when 
it was impossible to give the lessons   
out of doors1 the children  were        
gathered around a large table1 where    
each one had before him or  her the     
specimens of the day1 sometimes stones  
and fossils1 sometimes  flowers1 fruits1
 or dried plants4 ,to each child in     
succession was  explained separately    
what had first been told to all         
collectively4444  ,the children took    
their own share in the instruction1 and 
were  themselves made to point out and  
describe that which had just been       
explained to them4 ,they took home their
 collections1 and as a  preparation for 
the next lesson were often called upon  
to classify and  describe some unusual  

specimen by their own unaided efforts4  
,,iii    ,,agassiz ,,at ,,harvard       
,footnote3 ,from ,e4 ,c4 ,agassiz1      
,louis ,agassiz1 his ,life and          
,correspondence1 pp4 #efd ff4 ,boston1  
,houghton ,mifflin ,company1 #ahhe4     
,on his return to ,cambridge at the end 
of ,september #ahei1 ,agassiz  found the
 ,museum building well advanced4 ,it was
 completed in the course  of the next   
year1 and the dedication took place on  
the #acth of  ,november1 #ahfj4 ,the    
transfer of the collections to their new
 and safe  abode was made as rapidly as 
possible1 and the work of developing the
  institution under these more favorable
 conditions moved steadily on4  ,the    
lecture-rooms were at once opened1 not  
only to students1 but to  other persons 
not connected with the ,university4     
,especially welcome  were teachers of   
schools1 for whom admittance was free4  
,it was a great  pleasure to ,agassiz   
thus to renew and strengthen his        
connection with  the teachers of the    

,state1 with whom1 from the time of his 
arrival in  this country1 he had held   
most cordial relations1 attending the   
,teachers' ,institutes1 visiting the    
normal schools1 and associating  himself
 actively1 as far as he could1 with the 
interests of public  education in       
,massachusetts4 ,from this time forward 
his college lectures  were open to women
 as well as to men4 ,he had great       
sympathy with the  desire of women for  
larger and more various fields of study 
and work1  and a certain number of women
 have always been employed as assistants
  at the ,museum4    ,the story of the  
next three years was one of unceasing   
but seemingly  uneventful work4 ,the    
daylight hours from nine or ten o'clock 
in the  morning were spent1 with the    
exception of the hour devoted to the    
school1 at the ,museum1 not only in     
personal researches and in  lecturing1  
but in organizing1 distributing1 and    
superintending the work  of the         
laboratories1 all of which was directed 

by him4 ,passing from  bench to bench1  
from table to table1 with a suggestion  
here1 a kindly  but scrutinizing glance 
there1 he made his sympathetic presence 
felt by  the whole establishment4 ,no   
man ever exercised a more genial        
personal  influence over his students   
and assistants4    ,his initiatory steps
 in teaching special students of natural
 history  were not a little             
discouraging4 ,observation and          
comparison being in his  opinion the    
intellectual tools most indispensable to
 the naturalist1  his first lesson was  
one in looking4 ,he gave no assistance2 
he  simply left his student with the    
specimen1 telling him to use his eyes   
diligently1 and report upon what he saw4
 ,he returned from time to time  to     
inquire after the beginner's progress1  
but he never asked him a  leading       
question1 never pointed out a single    
feature of the structure1  never        
prompted an inference or a conclusion4  
,this process lasted  sometimes for     

days1 the professor requiring the pupil 
not only to  distinguish the various    
parts of the animal1 but to detect also 
the  relation of these details to more  
general typical features4 ,his  students
 still retain amusing reminiscences of  
their despair when thus  confronted with
 their single specimen2 no aid to be had
 from outside  until they had wrung from
 it the secret of its structure4 ,but   
all of  them have recognized the fact   
that this one lesson in looking1 which  
forced them to such careful scrutiny of 
the object before them1  influenced all 
their subsequent habits of observation1 
whatever field  they might choose for   
their special subject of study4444      
,but if ,agassiz1 in order to develop   
independence and accuracy of            
observation1 threw his students on their
 own resources at first1 there  was     
never a more generous teacher in the end
 than he4 ,all his  intellectual capital
 was thrown open to his pupils4 ,his    
original  material1 his unpublished     

investigations1 his most precious       
specimens1  his drawings and            
illustrations were at their command4    
,this liberality  led in itself to a    
serviceable training1 for he taught them
 to use with  respect the valuable1     
often unique1 objects entrusted to their
 care4  ,out of the intellectual        
good-fellowship which he established and
  encouraged in the laboratory grew the 
warmest relations between his  students 
and himself4 ,many of them were deeply  
attached to him1 and he  was extremely  
dependent upon their sympathy and       
affection4 ,by some  among them he will 
never be forgotten4 ,he is still their  
teacher and  their friend1 scarcely more
 absent from their work now than when   
the  glow of his enthusiasm made itself 
felt in his personal presence4          
,,iv    ,,how ,,agassiz ,,taught        
,,professor ,,shaler    ,footnote3 ,from
 ,the ,autobiography of ,nathaniel      
,southgate  ,shaler1 pp4 #ic-ajj4       
,boston1 ,houghton ,mifflin ,company1   

#aijg4      ,at the time of my secession
 from the humanities1 ,agassiz was in   
,europe2 he did not return1 ,i think1   
until the autumn of #ahei4 ,i had1      
however1 picked up several acquaintances
 among his pupils1 learned what  they   
were about1 and gained some notion of   
his methods4 ,after about a  month he   
returned1 and ,i had my first contact   
with the man who was to  have the most  
influence on my life of any of the      
teachers to whom ,i am  indebted4 ,i    
shall never forget even the lesser      
incidents of this  meeting1 for this    
great master by his presence gave an    
importance to  his surroundings1 so that
 the room where you met him1 and the    
furniture1 stayed with the memory of    
him4 ,when ,i first met ,louis          
,agassiz1 he was still in the prime of  
his admirable manhood2 though he  was   
then fifty-two years old1 and had passed
 his constructive period1  he still had 
the look of a young man4 ,his face was  
the most genial and  engaging that ,i   

had ever seen1 and his manner captivated
 me altogether4  ,but as ,i had been    
among men who had a free swing1 and for 
a year among  people who seemed to me to
 be cold and super-rational1 hungry as  
,i  doubtless was for human sympathy1   
,agassiz's welcome went to my heart--,i 
was at once his captive4 ,it has been my
 good chance to see many men of         
engaging presence and ways1 but ,i have 
never known his equal4    ,as the       
personal quality of ,agassiz was the    
greatest of his powers1 and  as my life 
was greatly influenced by my immediate  
and enduring  affection for him1 ,i am  
tempted to set forth some incidents     
which show  that my swift devotion to my
 new-found master was not due to the    
accidents of the situation1 or to any   
boyish fancy4 ,i will content  myself   
with one of those stories1 which will of
 itself show how easily  he captivated  
men1 even those of the ruder sort4 ,some
 years after we  came together1 when    
indeed ,i was formally his              

assistant1--,i believe it  was in       
#ahff1--;he became much interested in   
the task of comparing the  skeletons of 
thoroughbred horses with those of common
 stock4 ,i had at  his request tried1   
but without success1 to obtain the bones
 of certain  famous stallions from my   
acquaintances among the racing men in   
,kentucky4 ,early one morning there was 
a fire1 supposed to be  incendiary1 in  
the stables in the ,beacon ,park track1 
a mile from the  ,college1 in which a   
number of horses had been killed1 and   
many badly  scorched4 ,i had just       
returned from the place1 where ,i had   
left a mob of  irate owners and jockeys 
in a violent state of mind1 intent on   
finding  some one to hang4 ,i had seen  
the chance of getting a valuable lot of 
stallions for the ,museum1 but it was   
evident that the time was most          
inopportune for suggesting such a       
disposition of the remains4 ,had ,i     
done so1 the results would have been1 to
 say the least1 unpleasant4    ,as ,i   

came away from the profane lot of       
horsemen gathered about the  rums of    
their fortunes or their hopes1 ,i met   
,agassiz almost running to  seize the   
chance of specimens4 ,i told him to come
 back with me1 that we  must wait until 
the mob had spent its rage2 but he kept 
on4 ,i told him  further that he risked 
spoiling his good chance1 and finally   
that he  would have his head punched2   
but he trotted on4 ,i went with him1 in 
the  hope that ,i might protect him from
 the consequences of his curiosity4     
,when we reached the spot1 there came   
about a marvel2 in a moment he had  all 
those raging men at his command4 ,he    
went at once to work with the  horses   
which had been hurt1 but were savable4  
,his intense sympathy with  the         
creatures1 his knowledge of the remedies
 to be applied1 his  immediate          
appropriation of the whole situation1 of
 which he was at once  the master1 made 
those rude folk at once his friends4    
,nobody asked who  he was1 for the good 

reason that he was heart and soul of    
them4 ,when  the task of helping was    
done1 then ,agassiz skilfully came to   
the point  of his business--the         
skeletons--and this so dexterously and  
sympathetically1 that the men were1 it  
seemed1 ready to turn over the  living  
as well as the dead beasts for his      
service4 ,i have seen a lot of  human   
doing1 much of it critically as actor or
 near observer1 but this  was in many   
ways the greatest4 ,the supreme art of  
it was in the use of  a perfectly       
spontaneous and most actually           
sympathetic motive to gain an  end4     
,with others1 this state of mind would  
lead to affectation2 with  him1 it in no
 wise diminished the quality of the     
emotion4 ,he could  measure the value of
 the motive1 but do it without lessening
 its moral  import4    ,as my account of
 ,agassiz's quality should rest upon my 
experiences  with him1 ,i shall now go  
on to tell how and to what effect he    
trained  me4 ,in that day there were no 

written examinations on any subjects to 
which candidates for the ,lawrence      
,scientific ,school had to pass4 ,the   
professors in charge of the several     
departments questioned the  candidates1 
and determined their fitness to pursue  
the course of study  they desired to    
undertake4 ,few or none who had any     
semblance of an  education were denied  
admission to ,agassiz's laboratory4 ,at 
that time1  the instructors had1 in     
addition to their meagre salaries--his  
was then  #b1ejj per annum1--the regular
 fees paid in by the students under his 
charge4 ,so ,i was promptly assured that
 ,i was admitted4 ,be it said1  however1
 that he did give me an effective oral  
examination1 which1 as  he told me1 was 
intended to show whether ,i could expect
 to go forward  to a degree at the end  
of four years of study4 ,on this matter 
of the  degree he was obdurate1 refusing
 to recommend some who had been with    
him for many years1 and had succeeded in
 their special work1 giving as  reason  

for his denial that they were 'too      
ignorant4'    ,the examination ,agassiz 
gave me was directed first to find that 
,i knew  enough ,latin and ,greek to    
make use of those languages2 that ,i    
could  patter a little of them evidently
 pleased him4 ,he didn't care for those 
detestable rules for scanning4 ,then    
came ,german and ,french1 which were    
also approved3 ,i could read both1 and  
spoke the former fairly well4 ,he  did  
not probe me in my weakest place1       
mathematics1 for the good reason  that1 
badly as ,i was off in that subject1 he 
was in a worse plight4  ,then asking me 
concerning my reading1 he found that ,i 
had read the  ,essay on ,classification1
 and had noted in it the influence of   
,schelling's views4 ,most of his        
questioning related to this field1 and  
the more than fair beginning of our     
relations then made was due to the  fact
 that ,i had some enlargement on that   
side4 ,so1 too1 he was pleased  to find 
that ,i had managed a lot of ,latin1    

,greek1 and ,german poetry1  and had    
been trained with the sword4 ,he        
completed this inquiry by  requiring    
that ,i bring my foils and masks for a  
bout4 ,in this test he  did not fare    
well1 for1 though not untrained1 he     
evidently knew more of  the ,schlager   
than of the rapier4 ,he was             
heavy-handed1 and lacked  finesse4      
,this1 with my previous experience1 led 
me to the conclusion  that ,i had struck
 upon a kind of tutor in ,cambridge not 
known in  ,kentucky4    ,while ,agassiz 
questioned me carefully as to what ,i   
had read and what ,i  had seen1 he      
seemed in this preliminary going over in
 no wise concerned  to find what ,i knew
 about fossils1 rocks1 animals1 and     
plants2 he put  aside the offerings of  
my scanty lore4 ,this offended me a bit1
 as ,i  recall1 for the reason that ,i  
thought ,i knew1 and for a self-taught  
lad  really did know1 a good deal about 
such matters1 especially as to the      
habits of insects1 particularly spiders4

 ,it seemed hard to be denied  the      
chance to make my parade2 but ,i        
afterward saw what this meant--that  he 
did not intend to let me begin my tasks 
by posing as a naturalist4  ,the        
beginning was indeed quite different1   
and1 as will be seen1 in a  manner that 
quickly evaporated my conceit4 ,it was  
made and continued in  a way ,i will now
 recount4    ,agassiz's laboratory was  
then in a rather small two-storied      
building1  looking much like a square   
dwelling-house1 which stood where the   
,college ,gymnasium now stands4444      
,agassiz had recently moved into it     
from a shed on the marsh near ,brighton 
bridge1 the original tenants1  the      
engineers1 having come to riches in the 
shape of the brick  structure now known 
as the ,lawrence ,building4 ,in this    
primitive  establishment ,agassiz's     
laboratory1 as distinguished from the   
storerooms where the collections were   
crammed1 occupied one room about  thirty
 feet long and fifteen feet wide--what  

is now the west room on  the lower floor
 of the edifice4 ,in this place1 already
 packed1 ,i had  assigned to me a small 
pine table with a rusty tin pan upon    
it4444    ,when ,i sat me down before my
 tin pan1 ,agassiz brought me a small   
fish1  placing it before me with the    
rather stern requirement that ,i should 
study it1 but should on no account talk 
to any one concerning it1 nor  read     
anything relating to fishes1 until ,i   
had his permission so to do4  ,to my    
inquiry1 ',what shall ,i do8' he said in
 effect3 ',find out what you  can       
without damaging the specimen2 when ,i  
think that you have done the  work ,i   
will question you4' ,in the course of an
 hour ,i thought ,i had  compassed that 
fish2 it was rather an unsavory object1 
giving forth the  stench of old alcohol1
 then loathsome to me1 though in time ,i
 came to  like it4 ,many of the scales  
were loosened so that they fell off4 ,it
  appeared to me to be a case for a     
summary report1 which ,i was anxious  to

 make and get on to the next stage of   
the business4 ,but ,agassiz1  though    
always within call1 concerned himself no
 further with me that  day1 nor the     
next1 nor for a week4 ,at first1 this   
neglect was  distressing2 but ,i saw    
that it was a game1 for he was1 as ,i   
discerned  rather than saw1 covertly    
watching me4 ,so ,i set my wits to work 
upon  the thing1 and in the course of a 
hundred hours or so thought ,i had  done
 much--a hundred times as much as seemed
 possible at the start4 ,i  got         
interested in finding out how the scales
 went in series1 their  shape1 the form 
and placement of the teeth1 etc4        
,finally1 ,i felt full  of the subject1 
and probably expressed it in my bearing2
 as for words  about it then1 there were
 none from my master except his cheery  
',good  morning4' ,at length1 on the    
seventh day1 came the question1 ',well8'
 and  my disgorge of learning to him as 
he sat on the edge of my table  puffing 
his cigar4 ,at the end of the hour's    

telling1 he swung off and  away1 saying3
 ',that is not right4' ,here ,i began to
 think that1 after  all1 perhaps the    
rules for scanning ,latin verse were not
 the worst  infliction in the world4    
,moreover1 it was clear that he was     
playing a  game with me to find if ,i   
were capable of doing hard1 continuous  
work  without the support of a teacher1 
and this stimulated me to labor4 ,i     
went at the task anew1 discarded my     
first notes1 and in another week of  ten
 hours a day labor ,i had results which 
astonished myself and  satisfied him4   
,still there was no trace of praise in  
words or manner4  ,he signified that it 
would do by placing before me about a   
half a peck  of bones1 telling me to see
 what ,i could make of them1 with no    
further  directions to guide me4 ,i soon
 found that they were the skeletons of  
half a dozen fishes of different        
species2 the jaws told me so much at a  
first inspection4 ,the task evidently   
was to fit the separate bones  together 

in their proper order4 ,two months or   
more went to this task  with no other   
help than an occasional looking over my 
grouping with the  stereotyped remark3  
',that is not right4' ,finally1 the task
 was done1  and ,i was again set upon   
alcoholic specimens--this time a        
remarkable  lot of specimens            
representing1 perhaps1 twenty species of
 the side  -swimmers or ,pleuronectidae4
    ,i shall never forget the sense of  
power in dealing with things which ,i   
felt in beginning the more extended work
 on a group of animals4 ,i had  learned 
the art of comparing objects1 which is  
the basis of the  naturalist's work4 ,at
 this stage ,i was allowed to read1 and 
to discuss  my work with others about   
me4 ,i did both eagerly1 and acquired a 
considerable knowledge of the literature
 of ichthyology1 becoming  especially   
interested in the system of             
classification1 then most  imperfect4 ,i
 tried to follow ,agassiz's scheme of   
division into the  order of ctenoids and

 ganoids1 with the result that ,i found 
one of my  species of side-swimmers had 
cycloid scales on one side and ctenoid  
on  the other4 ,this not only shocked my
 sense of the value of  classification  
in a way that permitted of no full      
recovery of my  original respect for the
 process1 but for a time shook my       
confidence in  my master's knowledge4   
,at the same time ,i had a malicious    
pleasure in  exhibiting my 'find' to    
him1 expecting to repay in part the     
humiliation  which he had evidently     
tried to inflict on my conceit4 ,to my  
question  as to how the nondescript     
should be classified he said3 ',my boy1 
there  are now two of us who know that4'
    ,this incident of the fish made an  
end of my novitiate4 ,after that1  with 
a suddenness of transition which puzzled
 me1 ,agassiz became very               
communicative2 we passed indeed into the
 relation of friends of like  age and   
purpose1 and he actually consulted me as
 to what ,i should like  to take up as a

 field of study4 ,finding that ,i wished
 to devote myself  to geology1 he set me
 to work on the ,brachiopoda as the best
 group of  fossils to serve as data in  
determining the ,palaeozoic horizons4   
,so far  as his rather limited knowledge
 of the matter went1 he guided me in the
  field about ,cambridge1 in my reading1
 and to acquaintances of his who  were  
concerned with earth structures4 ,i came
 thus to know ,charles ,t4  ,jackson1   
,jules ,marcou1 and1 later1 the brothers
 ,rogers1 ,henry and  ,james4 ,at the   
same time ,i kept up the study of       
zoology1 undertaking to  make myself    
acquainted with living organic forms as 
a basis for a  knowledge of fossils4    
,v    ,,how ,,agassiz ,,taught          
,,professor ,,verrill    ,footnote3     
,from a private letter from ,professor  
,addison ,emery ,verrill  to ,lane      
,cooper4 ,the extract is printed with   
the consent of ,professor  ,verrill4    
,in regard to the methods of instruction
 of ,agassiz ,i must say that so  far as

 ,i saw and experienced he had no       
regular or fixed method1 except  that   
his plan was to make young students     
depend on natural objects  rather than  
on statements in books4 ,to that end he 
treated each one of  his new students   
differently1 according to the amount of 
knowledge and  experience that the      
student had previously acquired1 and    
often in line  with what the student had
 done before4 ,not infrequently young   
men came  to him who were utterly       
destitute of any knowledge or ability to
 study  natural science1 or zoology in  
particular1 but had an idea that it     
would be a 'soft snap1' as the boys say4
 ,in such cases he often did  give them 
a lot of mixed stuff to mull over1 to   
see what they could do1  and also to    
discourage those that seemed unfit4     
,sometimes he was  mistaken1 of course1 
and the student would persevere and stay
 on--and  sometimes turned out well     
later4 ,in fact1 his treatment was      
highly and  essentially individualistic4

    ,in my own case1 he questioned me   
closely as to what ,i had previously    
done and learned4 ,he found ,i had made 
collections of birds1 mammals1  plants1 
etc41 and had mounted and identified    
them for several years1  and in that way
 was not a beginner exactly4 ,i remember
 that before ,i  had been with him six  
months he told me ,i knew more zoology  
than most  students did when they       
graduated4 ,therefore my case was not   
like some  others4 ,he had an idea1 of  
course1 that though ,i had collected and
  mounted birds1 and knew their names   
and habits1 ,i probably knew little     
about their anatomy4 ,at any rate the   
first thing he did was to give me  a    
badly mutilated old loon1 from old      
alcohol1 telling me to prepare the      
skeleton4 ,this ,i did so well and so   
quickly that he expressed regret  that  
he had not given me some better bird    
with unbroken bones4 ,he gave  me next a
 blue heron1 but it being spring1 ,i    
'went collecting' in the  vicinity1     

following my usual inclination1 before  
breakfast and after  laboratory hours1  
and brought in a number of incubated    
birds'-eggs4  ,when ,agassiz came into  
the laboratory1 ,i was extracting and   
preserving  the embryos1 being          
interested in embryology4 ,he at once   
exclaimed that  he was delighted1 and   
told me to put aside the skeletons and  
go right  on with collecting and        
preparing embryo birds1 and making      
drawings1  etc4 ,this ,i did all that   
season1 obtaining about #b1jjj embryos1 
mostly  of sea birds1 for he sent me to 
,grand ,manan ,island1 etc41 for that   
purpose4 ,before the end of the first   
year he gave me entire charge of  the   
birds and mammals in the ,museum1 as    
well as the coral collection1  which was
 large even then4    ,in the case of    
,hyatt1 who went there just before ,i   
did1 ,i think he was  kept working over 
a lot of mixed fish skeletons1 more or  
less broken1  to 'see what he could make
 of them4' ,a little later he put ,hyatt

 at  work on the ,unionidae1 studying   
the anatomy as well as the shells4      
,within two years he put him on the     
,ammonites1 a big collection having     
been received from ,europe at that time4
 ,hyatt1 however1 had never done        
anything in zoology or botany before he 
went to ,agassiz and he found it  hard  
to get a beginning1 and so lost time4 ,i
 mention these cases to  show how       
different his methods were in different 
cases4          ,,vi    ,,how ,,agassiz 
,,taught ,,professor ,,wilder           
,footnote3 ,from an article by          
,professor ,burt ,g4 ,wilder1 of        
,cornell  ,university1 in ,the ,harvard 
,graduates' ,magazine1 ,june1 #aijg4    
,the  extract is taken from a reprint   
with slight changes by the author1 and  
is given with slight omissions by the   
present writer4      ,the phrase adopted
 as the title of this article ',louis   
,agassiz1  ,teacher' begins his simple  
will1 ,agassiz was likewise an          
investigator1  a director of research1  

and the founder of a great museum4 ,he  
really  was four men in one4 ,without   
detracting from the extent and value of 
the three other elements of his intense 
and composite ,american life--  from his
 first course of lectures before the    
,lowell ,institute in #ahdf  to the     
inauguration of the ,anderson ,summer   
,school of ,natural ,history at         
,penikese ,island1 ,july #h1 #ahgc1 and 
his address before the ,massachusetts   
,state ,board of ,agriculture1 twelve   
days before his untimely death on       
,december #ad1 #ahgc1--;,agassiz was    
pre-eminently a teacher4 ,he taught his 
assistants2 he taught the teachers in   
the public schools2 he taught  college  
students2 he taught the public1 and the 
common people heard him  gladly4 ,his   
unparalleled achievements as an         
instructor are thus  chronicled by his  
wife3    ',a teacher in the widest      
sense1 he sought and found his pupils in
  every class4 ,but in ,america for the 
first time did he come into contact     

with the general mass of the people on  
this common ground1 and it  influenced  
strongly his final resolve to remain in 
this country4 ,indeed  the secret of his
 greatest power was to be found in the  
sympathetic1  human side of his         
character4 ,out of his broad humanity   
grew the genial  personal influence by  
which he awakened the enthusiasm of his 
audiences  for unwonted themes1 inspired
 his students to disinterested services 
like his own1 delighted children in the 
school-room1 and won the  cordial       
interest1 as well as the co-operation in
 the higher aims of  science1 of all    
classes1 whether rich or poor4'    ,as a
 general statement the foregoing could  
not be improved4 ,but the  invitation to
 prepare this article contained a       
suggestion of  particularity with which 
it is possible for me to                
comply4,footnote3 ,not  only have ,i    
preserved all the letters from ,agassiz1
 the first dated  ,sept4 #d1 #ahff1 and 
the last ,nov4 #be1 #ahgc1 but also my  

diaries in which  are recorded all      
significant incidents and conversations 
from my first  introduction in #ahef to 
the last interview1 ,sept4 #e1 #ahgc4   
,note by  ,professor ,wilder4 ,the      
courses given by ,agassiz on zoology and
 geology  were attended by me during the
 three years 7#ahei-fb7 of my pupilage  
with ,jeffries ,wyman1 and the two years
 7#ahff-fh7 in which ,i was the         
assistant of ,agassiz himself4          
,naturally1 and also for special        
reasons1  the deepest impression was    
made by the first and the last of these 
courses4 ,with the former the charm of  
novelty intensified the great1  indeed  
indescribable1 charm of the speaker4 ,no
 topic was to me so  important as the   
general problem of animal life1 and no  
expositor could  compare with ,agassiz4 
,as an outlet for my enthusiasm each    
discourse was  repeated1 to the best of 
my ability1 for the benefit of my       
companion1  ,james ,herbert ,morse1     
'#fc1 on the daily four-mile walk       

between ,cambridge  and our ,brookline  
home4 ,so sure was ,i that all the      
statements of  ,agassiz were correct and
 all his conclusions sound1 that any    
doubts or  criticisms upon the part of  
my acute and unprejudiced friend shocked
 me  as a reprehensible compound of     
heresy and lese-majesty4    ,the last   
course that ,i heard from ,agassiz in   
,cambridge began on  ,october #bc1      
#ahfg1 and closed on ,january #aa1      
#ahfh4 ,it was memorable for  him and   
for me4 ,at the outset he announced that
 some progress had been  made in the    
,university toward the adoption of an   
elective system for  the students1 and  
that he proposed to apply the principle 
to his own  instruction1 and should     
devote the entire course of twenty-one  
lectures  to the ,selachians 7sharks and
 rays71 a group in which he had been    
deeply interested for many years1 and   
upon which he was then preparing  a     
volume4 ,this limitation to a favorite  
topic inspired him to unusual  energy   

and eloquence4 ,my notes are quite full1
 but ,i now wish the  lectures had been 
reported verbatim4 ,this course was     
signalized also by  two special         
innovations1 viz43 the exhibition of    
living fish1 and the  free use of museum
 specimens4 ,that1 so far as possible1  
all biologic  instruction should be     
objective was with ,agassiz an          
educational dogma1  and upon several    
notable occasions its validity had been 
demonstrated  under very unfavorable    
conditions4 ,yet1 during the five years 
of my  attendance upon his lectures1    
they were seldom illustrated otherwise  
than by his ready and graphic blackboard
 drawings4 ,the simple fact was  that   
the intervals between his lectures were 
so crowded with  multifarious1 pressing1
 and never-ending demands upon his time 
and  strength that he could seldom      
determine upon the precise subject long 
enough in advance for him1 or any one   
else1 to bring together the  desirable  
specimens or even charts4 ,the second   

lecture of the course  already mentioned
 is characterized in my diary as        
'splendid1' and as  'for the first time 
illustrated with many specimens4' ,at   
one of the  later lectures1 after       
speaking about fifteen minutes1 he      
invited his  hearers to examine living  
salmon embryos under his direction at   
one  table1 and living shark embryos    
under mine at another4    ,like those of
 ,wyman1 the courses given by ,agassiz  
were ,senior  electives4 ,i never heard 
of any examination upon them2 nor is it 
easy  to imagine ,agassiz as preparing a
 syllabus1 or formulating or  correcting
 an examination-paper4 ,his personality 
and the invariable  attendance of       
teachers and other adults precluded the 
necessity of  disciplinary measures4    
,but his attitude toward student        
misconduct was  clearly shown in an     
incident recorded by me                 
elsewhere4,footnote3  ',agassiz at      
,penikese1' ,american ,naturalist1      
,march1 #ahih1 p4 #aid4  ,note by       

,professor ,wilder4 ,the method pursued 
by ,agassiz with his  laboratory        
students has been described by          
,scudder4,footnote3 ,see below1  p4 #dj4
 ,although ,i was to prepare specimens  
at his personal expense1 a  somewhat    
similar test was applied4 ,he placed    
before me a dozen young  'acanths'      
7dog-fish sharks71 telling me to find   
out what ,i could about  them4 ,after   
three days he gave me other specimens1  
saying3 ',when you go  back to the      
little sharks you will know more about  
them than if you  kept on with them     
now'--meaning1 ,i suppose1 that ,i      
should then have  gained a better       
perspective4    ,although1 as ,i recall 
upon several occasions1 ,agassiz could  
express  his views delightfully and     
impressively to a single auditor1 his   
eminently social nature and his lifelong
 habit rendered it easier for  him to   
address a group of interested listeners4
 ,the following incident  does not seem 
to have been recorded in my diary1 but  

it is distinctly  remembered4 ,during   
the publication of the ,journey in      
,brazil1 a  ,french translation was made
 by ,m4 ,felix ,vogeli4 ,with this the  
publishers desired to incorporate a     
chapter giving the latest views of      
,agassiz upon classification and        
evolution4 ,in vain was he besought to  
write it4 ,he hated writing1 and was too
 busy4 ,at last1 in desperation1  ,m4   
,vogeli came to the ,museum with ,mrs4  
,agassiz1 and together they  persuaded  
the ,professor to dictate the required  
matter in the form of a  lecture4 ,for  
this1 however1 an audience was          
indispensable4 ,the exigency  was       
explained to the ,museum staff2 we      
assembled in the lecture-room1  and the 
discourse began4 ,to the dismay of some 
of us it proved to be in  ,french1 but  
we tried to look as if we comprehended  
it all4    ,agassiz handled all         
specimens with the greatest care1 and   
naturally  had little patience with     
clumsiness2 the following incident      

illustrates  both his kindly spirit and 
his self-restraint4 ,at one of the      
lectures  he had handed down for        
inspection a very rare and costly       
fossil1 from  the coal-measures1 ,i     
think2 including the matrix1 it had     
about the size  and shape of the palm of
 the hand4 ,he cautioned us not to drop 
it4 ,when  it had reached about the     
middle of the audience a crash was      
heard4 ,the  precious thing had been    
dropped by a new and somewhat uncouth   
assistant  whom we will call ,dr4 ,x4   
,he hastily gathered up the pieces and  
rushed  out of the room4 ,for a few     
seconds ,agassiz stood as if himself    
petrified2 then1 without even an        
',excuse me1' he vanished by the same   
door4 ,presently he returned1 flushed1  
gazing ruefully at the fragments  in his
 hand1 covered with mucilage or liquid  
glue4 ,after a pause1  during which     
those who knew him not awaited an       
explosive denunciation  of gaucherie1   
,agassiz said quietly3 ',in ,natural    

,history it is not  enough to know how  
to study specimens2 it is also necessary
 to know how  to handle them'--and then 
proceeded with his lecture4    ,his     
helpful attitude toward prospective     
teachers was exhibited in the  following
 incidents4 ,after my appointment to    
,cornell ,university in  ,october1      
#ahfg1 he arranged for me to give a     
course of six ',university  ,lectures1' 
and warned me to prepare for them       
carefully1 because he  should give me a 
'raking down4' ,he attended them all 7at
 what  interruption of his own work ,i  
realize better now71 and discussed them 
and my methods very frankly with me4    
,omitting the commendations1 the        
following comments may be useful to     
other professorial tyros3 #a4 ,the  main
 question or thesis should be stated    
clearly and concisely at the  outset1   
without compelling the hearer to perform
 all the mental  operations that have   
led the speaker to his own standpoint4  
#b4 ,in  dealing with the history of a  

subject1 the value of each successive   
contribution should be estimated in the 
light of the knowledge at the  period1  
not of that at the present time4        
,,vii    ,,how ,,agassiz ,,taught       
,,professor ,,scudder    ,footnote3 ',in
 the ,laboratory with ,agassiz1' by     
,samuel ,h4 ,scudder1  from ,every      
,saturday 7,april #d1 #ahgd7 #af1       
#cfi-cgj4      ,it was more than fifteen
 years ago from #ahgd that ,i entered   
the  laboratory of ,professor ,agassiz1 
and told him ,i had enrolled my name in 
the ,scientific ,school as a student of 
natural history4 ,he asked me a  few    
questions about my object in coming1 my 
antecedents generally1 the  mode in     
which ,i afterwards proposed to use the 
knowledge ,i might  acquire1 and1       
finally1 whether ,i wished to study any 
special branch4 ,to  the latter ,i      
replied that1 while ,i wished to be well
 grounded in all  departments of        
zoology1 ,i purposed to devote myself   
specially to  insects4    ',when do you 

wish to begin8' he asked4    ',now1' ,i 
replied4    ,this seemed to please him1 
and with an energetic ',very well6' he  
reached from a shelf a huge jar of      
specimens in yellow alcohol4    ',take  
this fish1' said he1 'and look at it2 we
 call it a haemulon2 by  and by ,i will 
ask what you have seen4'    ,with that  
he left me1 but in a moment returned    
with explicit  instructions as to the   
care of the object entrusted to me4     
',no man is fit to be a naturalist1'    
said he1 'who does not know how to  take
 care of specimens4'    ,i was to keep  
the fish before me in a tin tray1 and   
occasionally  moisten the surface with  
alcohol from the jar1 always taking care
 to  replace the stopper tightly4 ,those
 were not the days of ground-glass      
stoppers and elegantly shaped exhibition
 jars2 all the old students  will recall
 the huge neckless glass bottles with   
their leaky1 wax  -besmeared corks1 half
 eaten by insects1 and begrimed with    
cellar dust4  ,entomology was a cleaner 

science than ichthyology1 but the       
example of  the ,professor1 who had     
unhesitatingly plunged to the bottom of 
the jar  to produce the fish1 was       
infectious2 and though this alcohol had 
'a  very ancient and fishlike smell1' ,i
 really dared not show any aversion     
within these sacred precincts1 and      
treated the alcohol as though it  were  
pure water4 ,still ,i was conscious of a
 passing feeling of  disappointment1 for
 gazing at a fish did not commend itself
 to an  ardent entomologist4 ,my friends
 at home1 too1 were annoyed1 when they  
discovered that no amount of            
eau-de-,cologne would drown the perfume 
which haunted me like a shadow4    ,in  
ten minutes ,i had seen all that could  
be seen in that fish1 and  started in   
search of the ,professor--who had1      
however1 left the ,museum2  and when ,i 
returned1 after lingering over some of  
the odd animals  stored in the upper    
apartment1 my specimen was dry all over4
 ,i dashed  the fluid over the fish as  

if to resuscitate the beast from a      
fainting  -fit1 and looked with anxiety 
for a return of the normal sloppy       
appearance4 ,this little excitement     
over1 nothing was to be done but to     
return to a steadfast gaze at my mute   
companion4 ,half an hour passed  --an   
hour--another hour2 the fish began to   
look loathsome4 ,i turned it  over and  
around2 looked it in the face--ghastly1 
from behind1 beneath1  above1 sideways1 
at a three-quarters' view--just as      
ghastly4 ,i was in  despair2 at an early
 hour ,i concluded that lunch was       
necessary2 so1  with infinite relief1   
the fish was carefully replaced in the  
jar1 and  for an hour ,i was free4      
,on my return1 ,i learned that          
,professor ,agassiz had been at the     
,museum1  but had gone1 and would not   
return for several hours4 ,my           
fellow-students  were too busy to be    
disturbed by continued conversation4    
,slowly ,i drew  forth that hideous     
fish1 and with a feeling of desperation 

again looked  at it4 ,i might not use a 
magnifying-glass2 instruments of all    
kinds were  interdicted4 ,my two hands1 
my two eyes1 and the fish3 it seemed a  
most  limited field4 ,i pushed my finger
 down its throat to feel how sharp the  
teeth were4 ,i began to count the scales
 in the different rows1 until ,i  was   
convinced that that was nonsense4 ,at   
last a happy thought struck me  --,i    
would draw the fish2 and now with       
surprise ,i began to discover new       
features in the creature4 ,just then the
 ,professor returned4    ',that is      
right1' said he2 'a pencil is one of the
 best of eyes4 ,i am  glad to notice1   
too1 that you keep your specimen wet1   
and your bottle  corked4'    ,with these
 encouraging words1 he added3    ',well1
 what is it like8'    ,he listened      
attentively to my brief rehearsal of the
 structure of  parts whose names were   
still unknown to me3 the fringed        
gill-arches and  movable operculum2 the 
pores of the head1 fleshy lips and      

lidless eyes2  the lateral line1 the    
spinous fins and forked tail2 the       
compressed and  arched body4 ,when ,i   
had finished1 he waited as if expecting 
more1 and  then1 with an air of         
disappointment3    ',you have not looked
 very carefully2 why1' he continued more
  earnestly1' you haven't even seen one 
of the most conspicuous features  of the
 animal1 which is as plainly before your
 eyes as the fish itself2  look again1  
look again6' and he left me to my       
misery4    ,i was piqued2 ,i was        
mortified4 ,still more of that wretched 
fish6 ,but  now ,i set myself to my task
 with a will1 and discovered one new    
thing  after another1 until ,i saw how  
just the ,professor's criticism had     
been4  ,the afternoon passed quickly2   
and when1 toward its close1 the         
,professor  inquired3    ',do you see it
 yet8'    ',no1' ,i replied1 ',i am     
certain ,i do not1 but ,i see how little
 ,i saw  before4'    ',that is next     
best1' said he1 earnestly1 'but ,i won't

 hear you now2  put away your fish and  
go home2 perhaps you will be ready with 
a better  answer in the morning4 ,i will
 examine you before you look at the     
fish4'    ,this was disconcerting4 ,not 
only must ,i think of my fish all night1
  studying1 without the object before   
me1 what this unknown but most  visible 
feature might be2 but also1 without     
reviewing my new discoveries1  ,i must  
give an exact account of them the next  
day4 ,i had a bad memory2  so ,i walked 
home by ,charles ,river in a distracted 
state1 with my two  perplexities4       
,the cordial greeting from the          
,professor the next morning was         
reassuring2 here was a man who seemed to
 be quite as anxious as ,i that  ,i     
should see for myself what he saw4      
',do you perhaps mean1' ,i asked1 'that 
the fish has symmetrical sides  with    
paired organs8'    ,his thoroughly      
pleased ',of course6 of course6' repaid 
the wakeful  hours of the previous      
night4 ,after he had discoursed most    

happily and  enthusiastically--as he    
always did-upon the importance of this  
point1  ,i ventured to ask what ,i      
should do next4    ',oh1 look at your   
fish6' he said1 and left me again to my 
own devices4  ,in a little more than an 
hour he returned1 and heard my new      
catalogue4    ',that is good1 that is   
good6' he repeated2 'but that is not    
all2 go  on2' and so for three long days
 he placed that fish before my eyes1    
forbidding me to look at anything else1 
or to use any artificial aid4  ',look1  
look1 look1' was his repeated           
injunction4    ,this was the best       
entomological lesson ,i ever had--a     
lesson whose  influence has extended to 
the details of every subsequent study2 a
  legacy the ,professor has left to me1 
as he has left it to many others1  of   
inestimable value1 which we could not   
buy1 with which we cannot part4    ,a   
year afterward1 some of us were amusing 
ourselves with chalking  outlandish     
beasts on the ,museum blackboard4 ,we   

drew prancing  starfishes2 frogs in     
mortal combat2 hydra-headed worms2      
stately  crawfishes1 standing on their  
tails1 bearing aloft umbrellas2 and     
grotesque fishes with gaping mouths and 
staring eyes4 ,the ,professor  came in  
shortly after1 and was as amused as any 
at our experiments4 ,he  looked at the  
fishes4    ',haemulons1 every one of    
them1' he said2 ',mr4---- drew them4'   
,true2 and to this day1 if ,i attempt a 
fish1 ,i can draw nothing but           
haemulons4    ,the fourth day1 a second 
fish of the same group was placed beside
 the  first1 and ,i was bidden to point 
out the resemblances and differences    
between the two2 another and another    
followed1 until the entire family  lay  
before me1 and a whole legion of jars   
covered the table and  surrounding      
shelves2 the odor had become a pleasant 
perfume2 and even  now1 the sight of an 
old1 six-inch1 worm-eaten cork brings   
fragrant  memories4    ,the whole group 
of haemulons was thus brought in review2

 and1 whether  engaged upon the         
dissection of the internal organs1 the  
preparation and  examination of the bony
 frame-work1 or the description of the  
various  parts1 ,agassiz's training in  
the method of observing facts and their 
orderly arrangement was ever accompanied
 by the urgent exhortation not  to be   
content with them4    ',facts are stupid
 things1' he would say1 'until brought  
into  connection with some general law4'
    ,at the end of eight months1 it was 
almost with reluctance that ,i left     
these friends and turned to insects2 but
 what ,i had gained by this  outside    
experience has been of greater value    
than years of later  investigation in my
 favorite groups4    ,footnote3         
,professor ,edward ,s4 ,morse writes3   
',as ,i remember ,mr4  ,scudder's       
article1 444 he has stated clearly the  
method of ,agassiz's  teaching--simply  
to let the student study intimately one 
object at a  time4 ,day after day he    
would come to your table and ask you    

what you  had learned1 and thus keep you
 at it for a week4 ,my first object put 
before me was a common clam1 ,mya       
arenaria4'          ,,viii    ,,the     
,,death ,,of ,,agassiz--,,his           
,,personality    ,footnote3 ,the        
materials for this sketch are drawn from
 several  sources--chiefly the ,life by 
,marcou 7which ,i have used with some   
caution7 and the ,life by ,mrs4         
,agassiz4 ,i had wished to preserve the 
words of ,marcou throughout 7with       
judicious omissions71 but this wish  was
 defeated by certain persons who1 for   
reasons unknown to me1 have  the power  
to prevent the use of adequate          
quotations from him4 ,i have  followed  
him where ,i had no other guide1 and no 
ground for suspecting  him of bias4 ,the
 composition1 and to some extent the    
interpretation of  the facts1 are my    
own4    ,in later years the robust      
constitution and herculean frame of     
,agassiz  showed the effects of his     
extraordinary and multifarious labors1  

for it  must be confessed that he was   
not careful of his bodily welfare4 ,in  
the  year #ahfi he suffered a temporary 
breakdown of a very threatening sort1   
and for months was in seclusion1        
forbidden by his medical advisers even  
to think4 ,his own wise efforts1 and a  
quiet spring passed in the  village of  
,deerfield1 ,connecticut1 brought about 
his recovery1 so that  three years of   
activity were yet to be vouchsafed him4 
,but the strain  of his lectures1 of his
 correspondence1 of his labors at and   
for the  ,museum1 was perilous4 ,on the 
second of ,december1 #ahgc1 he gave a   
lecture1 his last1 on ',the ,structural 
,growth of ,domestic ,animals1'  before 
the ,massachusetts ,board of            
,agriculture at ,fitchburg4 ,on the     
third he dined with friends2 on the     
fifth he was present at a family        
gathering--and smoked cigars1 defying   
the orders of his physician4 ,but  the  
end was not far off4 ,he spoke of a     
dimness of sight2 he complained  of     

feeling 'strangely asleep4' ,on the     
morning of the sixth he went as  usual  
to the ,museum1 but with a sense of     
great weariness he shortly  returned to 
his room1 where he lay down1 never to   
depart from it alive4  ,the disease was 
a paralysis of the organs of            
respiration1 beginning  with the larynx4
 ,he had every care from his friends    
,dr4 ,brown-,sequard1  who immediately  
came from ,new ,york1 and ,dr4 ,morrill 
,wyman2 and the last  few days of his   
life were passed1 not in great          
suffering1 with his  loving family      
around him4 ,nothing1 however1 could    
arrest the progress  of the malady4     
,agassiz1 it is said1 had been afraid of
 softening of the brain1 and of  a long 
and painful illness like that which     
preceded the death of his  friend       
,professor ,bache2 it had been his hope 
that he might rather go  quickly4 ,yet  
it was not easy for him to think of     
dying1 when his  imagination teemed with
 projects1 and when the two main visions

 of his  life were on the point of being
 fully accomplished1 in the great       
,museum  and the ,anderson ,school of   
,natural ,history on the island of      
,penikese4  ,stricken though he was1 he 
clung to life1 nor did he give up all   
hope  of recovery until the last day4   
,still there was a change of demeanor1  
for the aims of his career as a         
scientist were now less obtrusive in    
his mind than thoughts of his family4   
,and with the arrival of ,dr4 ,brown    
-,sequard he resumed the language of his
 youth1 so that his last words  were    
uttered in ,french4 ,in the closing     
hours1 when at length all hope  was     
abandoned1 he was more than once heard  
to say3 ',tout est  fini4' ,on the      
eighth day1 when death itself was       
approaching1 his  family and            
friends--among these1                   
,pourtales--withdrew to an adjoining    
room1 keeping watch over the patient    
through the open door4 ,while           
,pourtales was standing there in his    

turn1 not long after ten o'clock at     
night1 ,agassiz lifted himself up in    
bed1 and said with emphasis3 ',le  jeu  
est fini4' ,then1 sinking back1 he      
passed away4    ',the play is done4     
,plaudite4' ,for ,agassiz life was a    
game1 full  of motion1 crowded with     
incident4 ,he could not understand the  
complaint  of those who found time      
hanging heavily upon their hands1 and   
who  sought ways of killing it4 ,he1 who
 had 'no time for making money1'  would 
gladly have borrowed an extra life or   
two for study and teaching4  ,from the  
outset he had unwavering confidence in  
himself4 ,he would be  'the first       
naturalist of his time1 a good citizen1 
a good son1 beloved  of those who knew  
him4' ,he was not to follow others2 he  
would lead in  his own path1 which      
should be the right path1 and others    
should follow  him4    ,agassiz was     
somewhat above the average in height4   
,his body was well  formed1 his         
shoulders broad and square1 his figure  

powerful1 firmly set  upon rather small 
feet that served him well in walking and
 climbing4 ,with  a quick1 elastic step1
 he was an excellent pedestrian1 and    
quite at home  in the mountains4 ,as a  
boy he became proficient in swimming and
 in the  management of boats4 ,to bodily
 fear he was a stranger4 ,his hands were
  large and shapely1 and very skilful4  
,never a finished draughtsman1 he  was  
none the less expert in representing1   
with swift1 sure strokes1 the  essential
 structure of the object he wished to   
recall or explain4 ,he was  deft1 too1  
with the dissecting-knife and the       
microscope1 and with the  geologist's   
hammer4 ,his neck 7the weak part1 as his
 fatal illness showed7  was rather      
short2 his head was fine and large4 ,in 
later years his hair1  of a chestnut    
color1 deserted his brow1 but he wore it
 full at the sides  and back1 and this1 
with the side-whiskers of the day1      
tended to conceal  his ears4 ,the head  
itself was admirable1 the forehead high 

and broad1  the chin shapely1 the       
countenance frank and open4 ,the mouth  
was wide1 the  lips full and smiling1   
the expression as a whole altogether    
amiable and  intelligent4 ,his aquiline 
nose1 with well-developed nostrils1     
sharply  set off by the oblique lines on
 either side1 helped to give him an air 
of  sagacity4 ,but it was the           
magnificent1 fascinating eyes1 young1   
kindly1  and searching1 that above all  
gave life to that animated countenance4 
,to  those eyes nothing was commonplace4
 ,footnote3 ,compare ,clara ,conant     
,gilson1 ',agassiz at ,cambridge1' in   
,frank ,leslie's ,popular ,monthly1     
,december1 #ahia3 ',he was a man of fine
 figure and striking appearance1  not   
too much of the embonpoint1 not too     
tall1 but just tall enough  to          
constitute a finely developed physique4 
,his head was grand1 of perfect         
intellectual shape1 and commanded your  
admiration as you gazed4 ,he was  but   
slightly bald1 his hair was of a        

beautiful brown1 soft and fine1 and     
fell lovingly over the collar of his    
coat4 ,his face was of well-rounded     
contour1 with a large1 expressive mouth1
 and features indicative of  great      
character and decision4 ,his eyes were  
the feature of his face1 par            
excellence4 ,they were of a beautiful   
bright brown1 full of tenderness1  of   
meaning and earnestness--a liquid brown 
eye1 that would moisten with  tears of  
emotion as thoughts of his ,creator came
 rushing to mind1 while  he traced ,his 
footsteps in the sciences he studied4   
,his eyes mirrored  his soul4 ,i think  
there was never but one pair of eyes    
such as ,professor  ,louis ,agassiz's4' 
,agassiz spoke ,french with a slight    
drawl characteristic of the section  of 
,switzerland in which he was born4 ,when
 he came to ,america in #ahdf1  he      
rapidly acquired a command of ,english1 
and he eventually wrote and  spoke the  
language with great facility1 though his
 speech never ceased  to betray his     

foreign origin4 ,footnote3 ,see ,clara  
,conant ,gilson1 in  the article just   
cited3 ,he had a few striking           
peculiarities of  pronunciation1 one or 
two of which cling to me with great     
pertinacity  even now4 ,one1 in         
particular1 is fresh in my memory4 ,for 
example1 the  words respiratory and     
perspiratory he would accent on the     
third  syllable--rat2 and1 bless me1 if 
to this day ,i don't have to  think     
twice before ,i am sure which is right6 
,this shows what indelible  impressions 
his words left upon his pupils4    ,with
 his superabundant physical1 mental1 and
 emotional energy1 he was  a natural    
orator2 he was fond of an audience1 and 
gratified by  applause4 ,no one ever    
possessed a greater talent for making   
natural  science popular2 even when his 
discourse became highly technical1 his  
auditors hung upon his words4 ,his      
method of exposition was very clear  and
 simple4 ,he studiously avoided the     
error of dragging the listener  through 

all the processes by which the speaker  
has arrived at a  particular truth1 and 
quickly came to the point4 ,in          
lecturing1 his  personal magnetism      
counted for much2 he readily            
communicated his  enthusiasm to others4 
,he was easily moved to tears or to     
laughter4 ,in his earlier life he  was  
seldom angry1 or seldom showed it1 but  
otherwise made no attempt to  hide his  
feelings1 being a perfect child of      
nature4 ,later he became  less          
demonstrative1 save when he was angry4  
,in the last twenty years of  his life  
he not infrequently lost his temper1    
though he would not  utterly forget what
 he was saying2 and1 however heated the 
discussion  might become1 he never      
ceased to be a gentleman4 ,neither      
indecency nor  aught approaching thereto
 ever issued from his lips4 ,as a youth 
in  ,switzerland1 during his life as a  
student1 and even when he was a  teacher
 at ,neuchatel1 he was fond of singing1 
and he liked to yodel  after the fashion

 of the ,swiss and ,tyrolese            
mountaineers1 but he gave  this up when 
he came to ,america4    ,here his       
recreations were mostly social4 ,he was 
the friend of  ,longfellow1 ,lowell1 and
 ,whittier2 he was the friend of        
laborers and  fishermen4 ,in society he 
liked to encounter men of wealth and    
influence1 for he had by nature1 and    
also learned from ,alexander von        
,humboldt1 some of the arts of the      
courtier4 ',it would be difficult1'     
says ,dr4 ,charles ,d4 ,walcott1        
,footnote3 ,smithsonian ,miscellaneous  
,collections #ej4 #bag 7#aijh74 'to     
measure his influence in the way  of    
causing men of political and commercial 
power to realize that the  support of   
scientific research1 and the diffusion  
of knowledge thereby  gained1 depend    
largely on them4' ,in other natural     
scientists he was  prone to discover too
 much self-satisfaction1 and too much   
personal  curiosity1 against which he   
hardly knew how to protect himself4 ,but

  with the group of younger scientists  
he himself developed1 though now  and   
then one or another grew mutinous1 he   
was1 during most of the time1  on the   
best of terms4 ,his own early schooling 
in the classics gave him  a relish for  
scholars1 and he was pleased with the   
company of  historians and lawyers4 ,for
 military men he did not care1 but he   
liked  naval officers and sea-captains4 
,he paid little attention to matters of 
dress1 certainly as regards his own     
person4 ,he was gratified by the  marks 
of distinction conferred upon him at    
home and abroad1 but took  little       
subsequent thought of the ribbons1      
badges1 and diplomas1 keeping  them1 but
 not very carefully1 and never making a 
parade of them4    ,eloquent as a       
lecturer1 he was also brilliant and     
persuasive in  conversation1 being1 in  
appearance at least1 quite unreserved1  
and open  in his attempt to capture the 
good will of his auditor4 ,however1 if  
there was no covert artifice1 there was 

at all events the native  shrewdness of 
the ,swiss peasant to reckon with1 and  
doubtless the  subtlety of genius--which
 will not1 or cannot1 always reveal     
itself in  full4 ,in his later years1   
accordingly1 though his winning manners 
and  his desire that you should         
completely display your thought to him  
might  lead you to suppose him utterly  
open with you1 you might in the end     
discover that you had not fathomed his  
soul1 that there was that in him  which 
could not be taken captive1 and that    
there might be a silent  invincible     
rejection on his part of something      
within you which was  foreign to him4   
,in ,agassiz the theoretical and the    
practical life were well balanced4  ,he 
was both a visionary and a man capable  
of bringing his visions to  pass4 ,no   
philosophical conception was too general
 for him1 and no  detail of observation 
or inference too small4 ,no fact could  
appear too  slight for his intense and  
comprehensive scrutiny1 and his memory  

for  minute resemblances and differences
 was vast2 yet the enduring quality  of 
his work arose from his sense of order1 
and from the soundness and  rigor of his
 principles4 ,he possessed not only     
physical1 but  intellectual and moral   
courage4 ,in the face of hardship or    
difficulty  he was undaunted1 ever      
energetic at the moment1 ever hoping for
 better  times4 ,his power of working   
was enormous1 for he made virtually no  
false motions1 but proceeded silently1  
swiftly1 with no apparent  effort1 and  
for long periods without interruption4  
,much has been said by his friends of   
the depth and sincerity of his          
sentiments in point of religion4 ,but he
 had little sympathy with  clergymen1 or
 with the definite forms in which the   
religious experience  of man has        
expressed itself--though these forms are
 in their essence  and development not  
unlike the natural forms which he so    
reverently  studied4 ,one who knew him  
well affirms that in early manhood      

,agassiz1  if not precisely a           
materialist1 was at all events a        
sceptic2 but his  later studies1 with   
mature reflection1 led him to believe in
 a ,divine  ,creator4 ,the external     
universe became to him the language in  
which the  ,divine ,being conveys his   
ideas to man1 and natural history the   
discipline by which men interpret that  
language4 ,thus he says1 in the  ,essay 
on ,classification3 ',to me it appears  
indisputable that  this order and       
arrangement of our studies are based    
upon the natural1  primitive relations  
of animal life--those systems1 to which 
we have  given the names of the great   
leaders of our science who first        
proposed  them1 being in truth but      
translations into human language of the 
thoughts of the ,creator4 ,and if this  
is indeed so1 do we not find in  this   
adaptability of the human intellect to  
the facts of creation1 by  which we     
become instinctively1 and1 as ,i have   
said1 unconsciously1 the  translators of

 the thoughts of ,god1 the most         
conclusive proof of our  affinity with  
the ,divine mind8 ,and is not this      
intellectual and  spiritual connection  
with the ,almighty worthy of our deepest
  consideration8 ,if there is any truth 
in the belief that man is made in  the  
image of ,god1 it is surely not amiss   
for the philosopher to  endeavor1 by the
 study of his own mental operations1 to 
approximate the  workings of the ,divine
 ,reason1 learning from the nature of   
his own mind  better to understand the  
,infinite ,intellect from which it is   
derived4  ,such a suggestion may1 at    
first sight1 appear irreverent4 ,but who
 is  the truly humble8 ,he who1         
penetrating into the secrets of         
creation1  arranges them under a        
formula1 which he proudly calls his     
scientific  system8 or he who in the    
same pursuit recognizes his glorious    
affinity  with the ,creator1 and in     
deepest gratitude for so sublime a      
birthright  strives to be the faithful  

interpreter of that ,divine ,intellect  
with  whom he is permitted1 nay1 with   
whom he is intended1 according to the   
laws of his being1 to enter into        
communion8 ,footnote3 ,essay on         
,classification 7#ahei71 pp4 #i-aj4     
,herein we may discern the secret  of   
his power as a teacher4    ',agassiz's  
influence on methods of teaching in our 
community1' said  ,professor ,james1    
'was prompt and decisive--all the more  
that it struck  people's imagination by 
its very excess4 ,the good old way of   
committing  printed abstractions to     
memory never seems to have received such
 a shock  as it encountered at his      
hands4 ,there is probably no public     
school  teacher now #ahif in ,new       
,england who will not tell you how      
,agassiz used  to lock a student up in a
 room full of turtle-shells1 or         
lobster-shells1  or oyster-shells1      
without a book or a word to help him1   
and not let him  out till he had        
discovered all the truths which the     

objects contained4  ,some found the     
truths after weeks and months of lonely 
sorrow2 others  never found them4 ,those
 who found them were already made into  
naturalists  thereby--the failures were 
blotted from the book of honor and of   
life4  ,go to nature2 take the facts    
into your own hands2 look1 and see for  
yourself6--these were the maxims which  
,agassiz preached wherever he  went1 and
 their effect upon pedagogy was         
electric4444 ,while on the ,thayer      
expedition to ,brazil1 in #ahfe1 ,i     
remember that ,i often put questions to 
him about the facts of our new tropical 
habitat1 but ,i doubt if he ever        
answered one of these questions of mine 
outright4 ,he always said3 ,there1  you 
see you have a definite problem4 ,go and
 look1 and find the answer for          
yourself4' ,footnote3 ,william ,james1  
,louis ,agassiz1 ,words ,spoken 444  at 
the ,reception of the ,american ,society
 of ,naturalists 444 ,dec4 #cj1  #ahif4 
,pp4 #i1 #aj4 ,cambridge1 #ahig4        

,,ix    ,,obiter ,,dicta ,,by ,,agassiz 
,footnote3 ,the first nine of these     
utterances were taken down by ,dr4      
,david ,stair ,jordan at ,penikese1 in  
the summer of #ahgc1 from ,agassiz's    
talks to teachers2 see ,popular ,science
 ,monthly #dj4 #gbf-gbg1 and  ,holder1  
,louis ,agassiz1 his ,life and ,works1  
#ahic1 pp4 #agc-agf4  ,the next five    
come from the article entitled ',louis  
,agassiz1 ,teacher1'  by ,professor     
,burt ,g4 ,wilder1 in ,the ,harvard     
,graduate's ,magazine1  ,june1 #aijg1   
and the last three from ,agassiz's      
posthumous article1  ,evolution and     
,permanence of ,type1 in the ,atlantic  
,monthly1  ,jan41 #ahgd 7vol4 #cc74     
,never try to teach what you yourself do
 not know1 and know well4 ,if  your     
school board insists on your teaching   
anything and everything1  decline firmly
 to do it4 ,it is an imposition alike on
 pupils and  teacher to teach that which
 he does not know4 ,those teachers who  
are  strong enough should squarely      

refuse to do such work4 ,this           
much-needed  reform is already beginning
 in our colleges1 and ,i hope it will   
continue4 ,it is a relic of mediaeval   
times1 this idea of professing          
everything4 ,when teachers begin to     
decline work which they cannot do  well1
 improvements begin to come in4 ,if one 
will be a successful  teacher1 he must  
firmly refuse work which he cannot do   
successfully4    ,it is a false idea to 
suppose that everybody is competent to  
learn or  to teach everything4 ,would   
our great artists have succeeded equally
  well in ,greek or calculus8 ,a        
smattering of everything is worth       
little4  ,it is a fallacy to suppose    
that an encyclopaedic knowledge is      
desirable4 ,the mind is made strong1 not
 through much learning1 but by  the     
thorough possession of something4       
,lay aside all conceit4 ,learn to read  
the book of nature for yourself4  ,those
 who have succeeded best have followed  
for years some slim thread  which has   

once in a while broadened out and       
disclosed some treasure  worth a        
life-long search4    ,a man cannot be a 
professor of zoology on one day1 and of 
chemistry on  the next1 and do good work
 in both4 ,as in a concert all are      
musicians  --one plays one instrument1  
and one another1 but none all in        
perfection4    ,you cannot do without   
one specialty2 you must have some       
base-line to  measure the work and      
attainments of others4 ,for a general   
view of the  subject1 study the history 
of the sciences4 ,broad knowledge of all
  nature has been the possession of no  
naturalist except ,humboldt1 and        
general relations constituted his       
specialty4    ,select such subjects that
 your pupils cannot walk without seeing 
them4  ,train your pupils to be         
observers1 and have them provided with  
the  specimens about which you speak4   
,if you can find nothing better1 take a 
house-fly or a cricket1 and let each    
hold a specimen and examine it as  you  

talk4    ,in #ahdg ,i gave an address at
 ,newton1 ,massachusetts1 before a      
,teachers'  ,institute conducted by     
,horace ,mann4 ,my subject was          
grasshoppers4 ,i  passed around a large 
jar of these insects1 and made every    
teacher take  one and hold it while ,i  
was speaking4 ,if any one dropped the   
insect1 ,i  stopped till he picked it   
up4 ,this was at that time a great      
innovation1  and excited much laughter  
and derision4 ,there can be no true     
progress  in the teaching of natural    
science until such methods become       
general4    ,there is no part of the    
country where1 in the summer1 you cannot
 get a  sufficient supply of the best   
specimens4 ,teach your children to bring
  them in themselves4 ,take your text   
from the brooks1 not from the book      
-sellers4 ,it is better to have a few   
forms well known than to teach a  little
 about many hundred species4 ,better a  
dozen specimens thoroughly  studied as  
the result of the first year's work1    

than to have two  thousand dollars'     
worth of shells and corals bought from a
 curiosity  -shop4 ,the dozen animals   
would be your own4    ,the study of     
nature is an intercourse with the       
highest mind4 ,you  should never trifle 
with nature4 ,at the lowest her works   
are the works  of the highest           
powers--the highest something1 in       
whatever way we may  look at it4    ,it 
is much more important for a naturalist 
to understand the structure  of a few   
animals than to command the whole field 
of scientific  nomenclature4    ,methods
 may determine the result4    ,the only 
true scientific system must be one in   
which the thought1 the  intellectual    
structure1 rises out of1 and is based   
upon1 facts4    ,he is lost1 as an      
observer1 who believes that he can1 with
 impunity1  affirm that for which he can
 adduce no evidence4    ,have the       
courage to say3 ',i do not know4'       
,since the ability of combining facts is
 a much rarer gift than that of         

discerning them1 many students lost     
sight of the unity of structural  design
 in the multiplicity of structural      
detail4 ,footnote3 ,atlantic  ,monthly  
#cc4 #ic4    ,it cannot be too soon     
understood that science is one1 and that
 whether  we investigate language1      
philosophy1 theology1 history1 or       
physics1 we  are dealing with the same  
problem1 culminating in the knowledge of
  ourselves4 ,speech is known only in   
connection with the organs of man1      
thought in connection with his brain1   
religion as the expression of his       
aspirations1 history as the record of   
his deeds1 and physical sciences  as the
 laws under which he lives4 ,footnote3  
,atlantic ,monthly  #cc4 #ie4    ,the   
most advanced ,darwinians seem reluctant
 to acknowledge the  intervention of an 
intellectual power in the diversity     
which obtains in  nature1 under the plea
 that such an admission implies distinct
 creative  acts for every species4 ,what
 of it1 if it were true8 ,have those who

  object to repeated acts of creation   
ever considered that no progress  can be
 made in knowledge without repeated acts
 of thinking8 ,and what  are thoughts   
but specific acts of the mind8 ,why     
should it then be  unscientific to infer
 that the facts of nature are the result
 of a  similar process1 since there is  
no evidence of any other cause8 ,the    
world has arisen in some way or other4  
,how it originated is the great         
question1 and ,darwin's theory1 like all
 other attempts to explain the  origin  
of life1 is thus far merely conjectural4
 ,i believe he has not  even made the   
best conjecture possible in the present 
state of our  knowledge4    ,the more ,i
 look at the great complex of the animal
 world1 the more  sure do ,i feel that  
we have not yet reached its hidden      
meaning1 and the  more do ,i regret that
 the young and ardent spirits of our day
 give  themselves to speculation rather 
than to close and accurate              
investigation4 ,footnote3 ,atlantic     

,monthly #cc4 #aja4          ,x         
,,passages ,,for ,,comparison ,,with    
,,the ,,method ,,of ,,agassiz           
,,boeckh ,,on ,,the ,,study ,,of        
,,history ,,and ,,literature            
,footnote3 ,august ,boeckh2             
,encyclopadie und ,methodobgie der      
,philologischen ,wissenschaften1 pp4    
#df-dg4    ,the person who first seeks  
to acquire a general survey of a        
science1  and then gradually to descend 
to details1 will never attain to sound  
and exact knowledge1 but will for ever  
dissipate his energies1 and1  knowing   
many things1 will yet know nothing4 ,in 
his lectures on the  ,method of         
,academical ,study1 ,schelling remarks  
with great justice that1  in history1 to
 begin with a survey of the entire past 
is in the highest  degree useless and   
injurious1 since it gives one mere      
compartments for  knowledge1 without    
anything to fill them4 ,in history1 his 
advice is1  first study one period in   
detail1 and from this broaden out in all

  directions4 ,for the study of language
 and literature 7which corresponds  with
 history in its most general sense7 a   
similar procedure is the only  right    
one4 ,everything in science is related2 
although science itself is  endless1 yet
 the whole system is pervaded with      
sympathies and  correspondences4 ,let   
the student place himself where he      
will--so long  as he selects something  
significant and worth while1--and he    
will be  compelled to broaden out from  
this point of departure in every        
direction in order to reach a complete  
understanding of his subject4  ,from    
each and every detail one is driven to  
consider the whole2 the  only thing that
 matters is that one go to work in the  
right way1 with  strength1 intelligence1
 and avidity4 ,let one choose several   
different  points of departure1 working 
through from each of them to the whole1 
and one will grasp the whole all the    
more surely1 and comprehend the  wealth 
of detail all the more fully4           

,accordingly1 by sinking deep into  the 
particular1 one most easily avoids the  
danger of becoming narrow4              
,,passages ,,for ,,comparison    ,,from 
,,the ,,symposium ,,of ,,plato      ,the
 passage is thus summarized by ,jowett3 
',he who would be truly  initiated      
should pass from the concrete to the    
abstract1 from the  individual to the   
universal1 from the universal to the    
universe of  truth and beauty4          
,footnote3 ,plato1 ,symposium4 ,the     
,dialogues  of ,plato1 translated by    
,jowett1 ,new ,york1 ,oxford ,university
 ,press1  #ahib1 #a4 #ehj-ehb4          
,diotima4444 ,these are the lesser      
mysteries of love1 into which  even you1
 ,socrates1 may enter2 to the greater   
and more hidden ones  which are the     
crown of these1 and to which1 if you    
pursue them in a  right spirit1 they    
will lead1 ,i know not whether you will 
be able to  attain4 ,but ,i will do my  
utmost to inform you1 and do you follow 
if you  can4 ,he who would proceed      

aright in this matter should begin in   
youth  to visit beautiful forms2 and    
first1 if he be guided by his instructor
  aright1 to love one such form         
only--out of that he should create fair 
thoughts4 ,and soon he will of himself  
perceive that the beauty of one  form is
 akin to the beauty of another2 and     
then1 if beauty of form in  general is  
his pursuit1 how foolish would he be not
 to recognize that  the beauty in every 
form is one and the same6 ,and when he  
perceives  this1 he will abate his      
violent love of the one1 which he will  
despise  and deem a small thing1 and    
will become a lover of all beautiful    
forms4  ,in the next stage he will      
consider that the beauty of the mind is 
more  honorable than the beauty of the  
outward form4 ,so that if a virtuous    
soul have but a little comeliness1 he   
will be content to love and tend  him1  
and will search out and bring to the    
birth thoughts which may  improve the   
young1 until he is compelled to         

contemplate and see the  beauty of      
institutions and laws1 and to understand
 that the beauty of  them all is of one 
family1 and that personal beauty is a   
trifle4 ,and  after laws and            
institutions he will go on to the       
sciences1 that he may  see their beauty1
 being not1 like a servant1 in love with
 the beauty of  one youth or man or     
institution1 himself a slave1 mean and  
narrow-  minded1 but drawing towards and
 contemplating the vast sea of beauty1  
he will create many fair and noble      
thoughts and notions in boundless  love 
of wisdom2 until on that shore he grows 
and waxes strong1 and at  last the      
vision is revealed to him of a single   
science1 which is the  science of beauty
 everywhere4444    ,he who has been     
instructed thus far in the things of    
love1 and who has  learned to see the   
beautiful in due order and succession1  
when he comes  toward the end will      
suddenly perceive a nature of wondrous  
beauty 7and  this1 ,socrates1 is the    

final cause of all our former toils7--a 
nature  which in the first place is     
everlasting1 not growing and decaying1  
or  waxing and waning2 secondly1 not    
fair in one point of view and foul in   
another1 or at one time or in one       
relation or at one place fair1 at       
another time or in another relation or  
at another place foul1 as if  fair to   
some and foul to others1 or in the      
likeness of a face or hands  or any     
other part of the bodily frame1 or in   
any form of speech or  knowledge1 or    
existing in any other being1 as1 for    
example1 in an  animal1 or in heaven1 or
 in earth1 or in any other place2 but   
beauty  absolute1 separate1 simple1 and 
everlasting1 which without diminution   
and without increase1 or any change1 is 
imparted to the ever-growing  and       
perishing beauties of all other things4 
,he who from these ascending  under the 
influence of true love1 begins to       
perceive that beauty1 is  not far from  
the end4 ,and the true order of going1  

or being led by  another1 to the things 
of love is to begin from the beauties of
 earth1  and mount upwards for the sake 
of that other beauty1 using these as    
steps only1 and from one going on to    
two1 and from two to all fair  forms1   
and from fair forms to fair practices1  
and from fair practices  to fair        
notions1 until from fair notions he     
arrives at the notion of  absolute      
beauty1 and at last knows what the      
essence of beauty is4