, 1860-11-21
Interesting Speech by Professor ACaa
Aiz--sFIly He has Remained IN I1fl
Eountry-The Rights aud Wrong
OF TIeN Of Science,


A., stz--sEhy 11e has Remained IN 1h1,
!: tountry-The Rights aud Wrong1
I OF a1en Of Science.
; The Museum Of Comparative Zoology, a
Cambridge, Mass, Was dedicated on Tuesday
'y appropriate exercises. Among the speak
+rs were President FELTON, and Professor Asas
siz. In the speech Of the latter We find ths
! following interesting statements:
When ! came to this country In 1916, had
no thonght OF staying here had come upor
TIL Invitation Of sir. John L. Lowell, to dclive,
course Of lectures before the Lowell Insti
tute. had taken le1vc for q year and = hall
trs'm the college of Seufchatel, with which l
WIS then connected, and 1t had pleased the
King OF Prussi1, ut that time Prince Of Ncuc
'.s:tcl, to grant me the means for scientific
exploration Of somc parts Of this continent.
had not been much more than 4 year here,
wlen the commissions which disturbed Europe
:cts 1ne to consider seriously whether it would
he advisable Tor Inc to return to my native
countEy, or TO prolong my stay in America
. While w;.s hcsitating, the late Honorable
: Abbott Lawrence onc day called upon me, and
explained to me conildential1y Ills plans re-
>pcctlnS the foundation Of scientific school
in Cambridge, stating that 1t would be an ad-
Ltlonal rcason for him Immediately to carry
out his intention If I should accept profess
sosehip in that school. did not feel at liberty
10 decide before having obtained regular dis
charge from the college with which had been
connected for fifteen ycars. This was, howey-
~, granted in the most conEidcr1te manner;
a.d In the spring term Of 1873 entered upou
my duties as professor Of the scientific school
a post which still hold.
One OF the most tempting inducements I
Lad for staying in 4mevica was the offer made
to c1c BY the Superintendent Of the United
States Coast Survey, to avail myself of tho fl
Il
1nl- IN the work Of Survey, to visit in person
the coast and collect the animals living along
GILT shores, with most accurate indications re-
sEcctiu. tue nature Ut tile bottom On which
they ar: found, the depth at which they occur,
and other information for which naturalists
sigh. without having frequent means of obtain
in: them To these facilities owepa1t of the
1at,st valuable Information hare baen abba to
obtain iu my life.
Placed as was ut the head Of a new depart
nent Of public education, hnd now to make
the necessary collections for my instruction, as
none existed in the University; and during
my vocati0ns visited successfully, for TINT
purpose, Our Southern and Western States,
delivering lectures on my way to defray the
expenses necessary to make extensive collec-
tions, which 10 me were very heavy, as lever
lad anything but what earned from year to
year:
In 1882 the Treasurer Of Harvard College OBJ
tained by private subscription the SUN Of
Sl2:oW, amounting to the expenses had thus
lar incurred, to secure Is property for the Uni
yeFfty the collections bad brought together.
With these new means at my command, and
some additions, I hare gone on enlaryin., the
collection, until, l,y 4 succession Of fortunate
circumstances, movement was started to
found public museum.
Professor Agassiz here gave sketch Of the
preliminary organization Of tho Museum, &C.
knowledged the liberal grant which had been
made in its favor, defined lis idea Of y hut auch
an Institution should be, and concluded Il fol-
lows
Now, gentlemen, the position Of men OF
science in this country is not what it should
be. DO not say that they enjoy all the p,ivf-
leger Of MI other citizens; they do enjoy them
fully, the recognition science receives among
Is IT abroad: Singly the men who have distiu-
guished themselves receive due distinctions,
but they feel themselves isolated They stand
in the position Of men with liberal ideas forced
By circumstances to remain In d country desti-
tute Of free institutions.
Such men may within their own souls live
the life Of the free, but their acts arc doomed
to be In accordance with demonstrations Of the
land. And SO it is with our scientific men,
they must look to Europe for their reputation,
because the Institutions with which they are
surrounded are not on level with their own
scientific attainments, they may be hailed
abroad as men deserving recognition and re-
ccire 1t. but that recognition is not carried
aeross the ocean as a natural consequence of
q position earned at home. Il
II you Will free your best men from that tan-
tallzing position, raise your scientific inetitu-
tions to level with the foremost in Europe.
that the American man Of SCIENCE NAV. like
the American freeman, have the satisfaction Of
knowing, when he visits the Old World, that
lc is backed BY the Institutions hc leaves at
home in so doing, you will gdin another ad-
vantage-that Of freeing yourselves from the
who surround themselves witha fictitious rep
u.ation, 1nadc up Of newspaper articles, and
supported. perhaps, By correspondence with
some tcnth-tatc scientific men in Europe,
whom nobody knows in their native countfr.