New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-03-17
LOUIS AGASSIZ.
A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.

A BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH.
louis AGASsIZ HIS LIFE AND WORK. BY Charles
Frederick Holder, LIZ ID. lZmo pP OF i"u'
trated. G. p pntnam's Sons.
The second volume Of the new series entitled
sLeaders Of Science is devoted TO genial ana
sympathetic sketch Of Louis Agasslz by Professor
Holder 1t would indeed, be hard to choose LIE
which loads itself readily 10 the uses OF Ill
dactc biography than that Of Asassiz; and IT
needs to be said that the present biographer has
Welded rather TOO much TO a temptation Inherent
in the subject; the temptation namely. to make
Arassiz pose rather as a Sunday-school hero than
as a sober man Of science. But 1t is perhaps
neither possible nor desirable that this man should
be written about precisely like other men For his
was an exceptional nature, gifted with exceptional
powers and in every way equipped ana htted LOT
the great work Of scientific education which came
10 him as naturally as breathing, and which he
nrsed forward as long his strength lasted with
IN almost Titanic energy and vigor
Tho life Of Agassiz, moreover. must always pos
eees special charm Of it's own for quiet minds and
for all who reverence pure and unselish deVouoh
to good human interests Possibly the man who
dcvotes all his brain and physical power 10 the
conquest of disease fills the higher place get it is
not easy TO determine even that question, for SCI
ence is forever making farreachns and even vital
discoveries and the student never knows when ne
Il on the verge of some such momcntous revelation
Louis Agassz was one of those men who are piaih-
~ and Enthusiastically born 10 he scientists ana 10
be nothing else His childhood and boyhood, spent
IN his native Switzerland. were merely stepping
stones in his development. He could work IN many
directions but all his work took the bent oil sclcn-
tilc research. lie keen naturalist before
he reached his teens. and he had the incstlmabe
advantage Of being thrown among men OF science
and Of letters who were quick to recognize MS
genius. and prompt to assist him in lis develop
ment.
But what must surprise all who are not familiar
with his career is his positively Unsuitable appetite
for work No doubt he studied hard for several
vears at several Continental universities and
sohools and no doubt his magnificent physique
enabled him to do three or four times the amount
that ordinary young men could attain Bnt DE-
fore his education was fairly finished nc was
plunged over head and ears in labOrlOus engage
ments such as his monumental work on fishes. ana
year after year the scope OF his occupation cN-
tended without in the least affecting his elasticity.
Professor Holder has appended photography OF
Agassiz's work to this volume, and even that, it
seems does not really include all his writings.
many Of which are scattered through scientific
publications and have never yet been collected.
OF course for Americans what he wrought In
this country is Of deepest interest. and what that
WAS Professor Holder might possibly have made
somewhat more clear to his readers. what he
awells on, little too strongly in some instances
Il the immense enthusiasm evoked by Asassiz'
and the pietistic attitude of his scientific positions
Inasmuch as even in this country Agas-
stz's religious addenda to science have
been quietly laid on the shelf. it seems
hardly worth while to make parade OF this side
Of his character No one. of course. has ever aues-
toned his sincerity in premises but his ratiocina-
tive faculty has been laid open to doubt His Tits
with Mr. Darwin were interesting at the moment,
but they left no res3num. and Darwin's conclusions
on all, or nearly all, the disputed points are the
hnes which the scientific world alone recognizes.
Araasizs enthusiasm and reverence may very
well have helped him in his efforts 10 indoctrinae
American youth with love of science and Keen
desire to investigate nature at first hand. lie
taught all his pupils TO teach themselves. mat
was, perhaps, the most priceless lesson which he
ronveyed. He made them master what they knew
take it from the lips of Nature herself; seek 1t on
the shore, in the sea- among the woods and heids
That is how he created genuine school OF real
students, who set out with truly admirable meth
DDS, and whose work for science is even now but
in it's earlier stages No man perhaps could have
done better, or as well, what A9assiz did in this
direction. He knew how to make men learn
That was the central secret of his genius Then,
too his fine enthusiasm fired many dry hearts and
made them come TO the help of struggling science
In that day the prosperous class looked askance
upon science They did not sympathize with It's
purposes They thought what they called bust
ness" was the only career in which men were Justi
Ged in spending their lives.
Acassiz taught them differently. lie made them
zee a new light and, what Was more to the pur-
pose he made them help pay for spreading that
Light all over the land. The work he did In tins
way cannot be fairly estimated. 1T Is not too
much to say that all the scientific teaching and
work of value that has been produced here in the
last generation owes its existence 10 Louis Agassiz
He wore himself out completely in it. but he did
not care for that. He fulfilling his destiny,
and he was at the same time making immortality
Il is as an unparalleled worker and organizer that
he must always be remembered, and as one OF the
most thorough, and honest workers who ever lived
American science owes him a debt which can
never be paid and not only American scierce, hut
American believers in the higher life everywhere.
In MANY important respects he was great man,
creasing with time Professor Holder has written
an interesting but necessarily abbreviated account
of him, and some readers may think that II was
hardly wise to reproduce many pages OF the KIND
of scmi-oficia funeral orations which were madc
after his death Certainly nothing Of the KIND
could have been necessary TO show the standihS Vi
Agassiz in the opinion OF his contemporaries