Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence

Louis Agassiz: His Life and
Correspondence

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Louis Agassiz: His Life and
Correspondence
by Louis Agassiz Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be
sure to check the copyright laws for your country before downloading
or redistributing this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook.
This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project
Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the
header without written permission.
Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the
eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is
important information about your specific rights and restrictions in how
the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a
donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved.
**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts**
**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since
1971**
*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of
Volunteers!*****
Title: Louis Agassiz: His Life and Correspondence
Author: Louis Agassiz
Release Date: July, 2004 [EBook #6078] [Yes, we are more than one
year ahead of schedule] [This file was first posted on November 3,
2002]

Edition: 10
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, LOUIS
AGASSIZ: HIS LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE ***

This eBook was produced by Sue Asscher and Robert Prince.

LOUIS AGASSIZ
HIS LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE.

EDITED BY
ELIZABETH CARY AGASSIZ.

PREFACE.
I am aware that this book has neither the fullness of personal narrative,
nor the closeness of scientific analysis, which its too comprehensive
title might lead the reader to expect. A word of explanation is therefore
needed. I thought little at first of the general public, when I began to
weave together in narrative form the facts, letters, and journals
contained in this volume. My chief object was to prevent the dispersion
and final loss of scattered papers which had an unquestionable family
value. But, as my work grew upon my hands, I began to feel that the
story of an intellectual life, which was marked by such rare coherence
and unity of aim, might have a wider interest and usefulness; might,
perhaps, serve as a stimulus and an encouragement to others. For this
reason, and also because I am inclined to believe that the European
portion of the life of Louis Agassiz is little known in his adopted
country, while its American period must be unfamiliar to many in his
native land, I have determined to publish the material here collected.
The book labors under the disadvantage of being in great part a
translation. The correspondence for the first part was almost wholly in

French and German, so that the choice lay between a patch-work of
several languages or the unity of one, burdened as it must be with the
change of version. I have accepted what seemed to me the least of these
difficulties.
Besides the assistance of my immediate family, including the revision
of the text by my son Alexander Agassiz, I have been indebted to my
friends Dr. and Mrs. Hagen and to the late Professor Guyot for advice
on special points. As will be seen from the list of illustrations, I have
also to thank Mrs. John W. Elliot for her valuable aid in that part of the
work.
On the other side of the water I have had most faithful and efficient
collaborators. Mr. Auguste Agassiz, who survived his brother Louis
several years, and took the greatest interest in preserving whatever
concerned his scientific career, confided to my hands many papers and
documents belonging to his brother's earlier life. After his death, his
cousin and brother-in-law, Mr. Auguste Mayor, of Neuchatel,
continued the same affectionate service. Without their aid I could not
have completed the narrative as it now stands.
The friend last named also selected from the glacier of the Aar, at the
request of Alexander Agassiz, the boulder which now marks his father's
grave. With unwearied patience Mr. Mayor passed hours of toilsome
search among the blocks of the moraine near the site of the old "Hotel
des Neuchatelois," and chose at last a stone so monumental in form that
not a touch of the hammer was needed to fit it for its purpose. In
conclusion I allow myself the pleasure of recording here my gratitude
to him and to all who have aided me in my work.
ELIZABETH C. AGASSIZ.
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, June 11, 1885.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 1.
1807-1827: TO AGE 20.
Birthplace.--Influence of his Mother.--Early Love of Natural
History.--Boyish Occupations.--Domestic Education.--First School.

--Vacations.--Commercial Life renounced.--College of Lausanne.
--Choice of Profession.--Medical School of Zurich.--Life and Studies
there.--University of Heidelberg.--Studies interrupted by
Illness.--Return to Switzerland.--Occupations during Convalescence.

CHAPTER 2.
1827-1828: AGE 20-21.
Arrival in Munich.--Lectures.--Relations