Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-12-18
ODituary---Deafh of Prof. LOuis
AgRsSiZ.

Professor Louis John Rudolph
Agassiz died at his home in Cambridge,
Mass, shortly after ten o'clock on Satur-
day night. He was born near Lake
Neufchatel, Switzerland, in May, 1907,
and was therefore sixty-six years of age.
He early developed taste for scientific
study and research, and studied at the
college of Lausanne, at the Zurich Med
ical School, and at the universities of
Heidelberg and Munich, besides attend
ing for four years Seedlings lectures on
philosophy. On entering the reorgan-
lied University of Munich he was
brought in contact with some of the most
profound scientific men of the time,
among whom may be enumerated Oxen,
Martius, Schelling and Dollinger. The
opportunities for scientific distinction
were not long wanting to AgassiZ, who
was selected by Martius to assist him in
completing his great work on Brazil land
the manner in which he performed his
share of the labor placed the name of
the young student among the foremost
scientists of the age. Agassizs next
great labor was the publication of his
celebrated work on the Natural History
of the Fresh Water Fishes of Europe"
in which he was assisted by the intelli-
gent generosity and foresight OF Gotta,
the celebrated publisher.
In 1882 he was appointed professor of
natural history in the college at Neuf-
chatel, and in the succeeding fourteen
wears which elapsed between the APP
pointment and his arrival in this coun-
try, travelled, studied and wrote much.
In 1916 he visited Boston, being sent to
this country on scientific mission from
the Pruasian government, and the fol-
lowing year, having obtained an honor
able discharge, he determined TO make
his home here. He delivered lectures
in various portions of the country, and
then accepted the chair of zoology and
geology in the Lawrence scientific
school, founded by Mr.. Abbott Law
renee Since that time, with the excep-
ton of about two years when he held
the position of professor of comparative
anatomy in the Medical College of
Charleston, S. c., he has been closely
identified with Harvard college, and has
labored indefatigably in the interests of
science. One of the most important I'M
dertakings which will suffer by PROBES
sor Agassiz's withdrawal is the Cam.
bridge museum. 80
With his two. later enterprises--the
Hassler expedition and the natural his
tory school at Penikese- nearly every
one is familiar Some idea of the mag
nitude of the collections he made on the
voyage of the eoast-surTey steamer Hass-
Ter from Boston to San Francisco may
be gathered from his own statement that
$500 gallons of alcohol were consumed
in packing them. 1t included in some
respects the whole field of zoology, in
Guiding the natural history of mankind,
that OF marine mammalia, marine birds,
reptiles and fishes. The hitherto sue
cessful experiment of the Penikese
school may be considered as deeply de-
pendent on the life and fabors off its
founder, who firmly believed in the
theory of teaching natural history by
bringing the student face to face with
nature. The entire establishment was
under the immediate supervision OF. Pro:
lessor Agassiz !; he was the life and soul
of it, and it is difficult to. conceive. OF
| the school as going on without the guild
anee of the man who has at least de-
monstrated the practicability OF carrying
out conception which in itself was
Il y 80 O. H ~ A.