Part 36

In 1817, the King of Bavaria had sent two naturalists, M. Martius and M. Spix, on an exploring expedition to Brazil. They returned in four years, laden with treasures. M. Martius issued colored illustrations of all the unknown plants he had collected, and M. Spix several volumes on the monkeys, birds, and reptiles of Brazil. He had intended to give a complete natural history of Brazil, but died before his work was finished. Martius asked Agassiz to continue the work of Spix, in the line of fishes.

Agassiz writes to his sister Cecile: "I hesitated for a long time to accept this honorable offer, fearing that the occupation might withdraw me too much from my studies; but, on the other hand, the opportunity for laying the foundation of a reputation by a large undertaking seemed too favorable to be refused. The first volume is already finished, and the printing was begun some weeks ago.... Already forty colored folio plates are completed. Will it not seem strange when the largest and finest book in papa's library is one written by his Louis? Will it not be as good as to see his prescription at the apothecary's? It is true that this first effort will bring me in but little; nothing at all, in fact, because M. de Martius has assumed all the expenses, and will, of course, receive the profits. My share will be a few copies of the book, and these I shall give to the friends who have the first claim."

He writes to his father, as though half apologizing for the fact that he is writing a book on natural history, at the same time showing the real purpose of his life: "I wish it may be said of Louis Agassiz that he was the first naturalist of his time, a good citizen, and a good son, beloved of those who knew him. I feel within myself the strength of a whole generation to work toward this end, and I will reach it if the means are not wanting."

Thus early in life he had fixed the mark to which he would attain, "the first naturalist of his time." No wonder he succeeded, when he felt within himself "the strength of a whole generation to work toward this end."

In the summer of 1829, when he was twenty-two, the first part of the "Brazilian Fishes" was published, and a copy sent to the fond parents. Good M. Agassiz wrote back: "I have no terms in which to express the pleasure it has given me. In two words, for I have only a moment to myself, I repeat my urgent entreaty that you would hasten your return as much as possible.... The old father, who waits for you with open heart and arms, sends you the most tender greeting." He had been devoting his time to science--just what they feared,--but how proud they were to have him succeed!

Cuvier, the great leader in zooelogy, to whom the book was dedicated, wrote back: "You and M. de Martius have done me honor in placing my name at the head of a work so admirable as the one you have just published. The importance and the rarity of the species therein described, as well as the beauty of the figures, will make the work an important one in ichthyology, and nothing could heighten its value more than the accuracy of your descriptions. It will be of the greatest use to me in my 'History of Fishes.'... I shall do all in my power to accelerate the sale among amateurs, either by showing it to such as meet at my house, or by calling attention to it in scientific journals."

Another project had now taken form in Agassiz's active brain, his great work on "Poissons Fossiles," which a few years later placed him in the front rank of scientific men. He wrote to Auguste: "Having, by permission of the director of the museum, one of the finest collections of fossils in Germany at my disposition, and being also allowed to take the specimens home as I need them, I have undertaken to publish the ichthyological part of the collection. Since it only makes the difference of one or two people more to direct, I have these specimens also drawn at the same time. Nowhere so well as here, where the Academy of Fine Arts brings together so many draughtsmen, could I have the same facility for completing a similar work; and as it is an entirely new branch, in which no one has as yet done anything of importance, I feel sure of success; the more so because Cuvier, who alone could do it (for the single reason that every one else has till now neglected the fishes), is not engaged upon it. Add to this that just now there is a real need of this work for the determination of the different geological formations." And then he urges Auguste to intercede with his uncle at Neuchatel for one hundred louis. "At this very time, when he was keeping two or three artists on his slender means," says his wife, "he made his own breakfast in his room, and dined for a few cents a day at the cheapest eating-houses. But where science was concerned the only economy he recognized, either in youth or old age, was that of an expenditure as bold as it was carefully considered."

He was now at work finishing the "Brazilian Fishes," and carrying forward the "Fresh-Water Fishes" and the "Fossil Fishes." Besides these, he read medical works till midnight, and wrote seventy-four theses on anatomical, pathological, surgical, and obstetrical subjects.

He took his degree of medicine April 3, 1830. He writes to his mother: "The whole ceremony lasted nine days. At the close, while they considered my case, I was sent out of the room. On my return, the dean said to me, 'The faculty have been very much' (emphasized) 'pleased with your answers; they congratulate themselves on being able to give the diploma to a young man who has already acquired so honorable a reputation.' ... The rector then added that he should look upon it as the brightest moment of his rectorship when he conferred upon me the title I had so well merited."

And the glad mother writes back: "I cannot thank you enough, my dear Louis, for the happiness you have given me in completing your medical examinations, and thus securing to yourself a career as safe as it is honorable.... You have for my sake gone through a long and arduous task; were it in my power I would gladly reward you, but I cannot even say that I love you the more for it, because that is impossible. My anxious solicitude for your future is a proof of my ardent affection for you; only one thing was wanting to make me the happiest of mothers, and this, my Louis, you have just given me."

Agassiz had taken the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, a year earlier. "The time had come," said he, years afterward, "when even the small allowance I received from borrowed capital must cease. I was now twenty-four years of age. I was Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine, and author of a quarto volume on the fishes of Brazil. I had travelled on foot all over Southern Germany, visited Vienna, and explored extensive tracts of the Alps. I knew every animal, living and fossil, in the museums of Munich, Stuttgart, Tuebingen, Erlangen, Wurzburg, Carlsruhe, and Frankfort; but my prospects were as dark as ever, and I saw no hope of making my way in the world, except by the practical pursuit of my profession as physician."

December 4, 1830, Agassiz said good-by to Munich, and started with Mr. Dinkel, his artist, for Concise, his father having moved there from Orbe. Here he remained a year, arranging, meantime, his own valuable collections in natural history, at the house of his grandfather Mayor, at Cudrefin, on Lake Neuchatel, and practising a little in medicine, in the neighboring villages.

He longed to go to Paris for study, but poverty was his constant companion. Finally, an old friend of his father, a Swiss clergyman, M. Christinot, having come into possession of a small amount of money, urged his young friend to take it. His uncle also contributed a little, and Agassiz and Dinkel left for Paris in September, 1831.

On their arrival they found inexpensive lodgings, and at once began to work in the museums. He writes to his sister Olympe: "M. Cuvier and M. Humboldt especially treat me on all occasions as an equal, and facilitate for me the use of the scientific collections so that I can work here as if I were at home.... In the morning I follow the chemical courses at the Pitie.... At ten o'clock, or perhaps at eleven, I breakfast, and then go to the Museum of Natural History, where I stay till dark. Between five and six I dine, and after that turn to such medical studies as do not require daylight.... On Saturday only, I spend the evening at M. Cuvier's."

He writes later to his brother that there is another excellent reason why he does not spend more evenings in society, because he has "no presentable coat.... You can imagine that, after the fuel bill for the winter is paid, little remains for other expenses out of my two hundred francs a month, five louis of which are always due to my companion. Far from having anything in advance, my month's supply is thus taken up at once." Evidently he had no more money than when he and Auguste copied whole volumes at the Zurich school.

Cuvier was so much drawn to the young naturalist that he gave him and his artist a corner in one of his own laboratories, and, more than this, his drawings of fossil fishes and notes which he had taken in the British Museum and elsewhere. Cuvier said, three months later, with regard to some work, "You are young; you have time enough for it, and I have none to spare."

Agassiz now studied fifteen hours daily, sometimes seventeen. Cuvier commended his devotion, but said one evening as he left him, "Be careful, and remember that work kills." The next day he was paralyzed and died soon after, Agassiz never seeing him again.

It became evident that Paris, with her scientific treasures, could not be enjoyed longer. He must go back to Switzerland, and find a place to teach, as his sympathetic mother urged him to do. Just when the sky was darkest, a letter came from Humboldt, enclosing a check for one thousand francs! "Consider it," he said, "an advance which need not be paid for years, and which I will gladly increase when I go away or even earlier. It would pain me deeply should the urgency of my request, made in the closest confidence,--in short, a transaction as between two friends of unequal age,--be disagreeable to you. I should wish to be pleasantly remembered by a young man of your character. Yours, with the most affectionate respect, Alexander Humboldt."

How delicately offered was this charity in the guise of a loan! To give is blessed; to give without wounding the recipient is more blessed still!

The tender heart of Agassiz was deeply moved. He wrote his mother: "Oh! if my mother would forget for one moment that this is the celebrated M. de Humboldt, and find courage to write him only a few lines, how grateful I should be to her. I think it would come better from her than from papa, who would do it more correctly, no doubt, but perhaps not quite as I should like."

She wrote a thankful letter, and the great man replied: "I should scold your son, madame, for having spoken to you of the slight mark of interest I have been able to show him; and yet, how can I complain of a letter so touching, so noble in sentiment, as the one I have just received from your hand? Accept my warmest thanks for it.... One might well despair of the world if a person like your son, with information so substantial and manners so sweet and prepossessing, should fail to make his way."

This money made it possible for Agassiz to work in Paris, until a professorship of Natural History was created for him at Neuchatel, through the influence of Humboldt and others. Humboldt wrote: "Agassiz is distinguished by his talents, by the variety and substantial character of his attainments, and by that which has a special value in these troubled times, his natural sweetness of disposition."

This "sweetness of disposition" was worth more to Agassiz, all through life, than a fortune. It drew everybody to him. It opened the pockets of the wealthy to carry forward his great projects. It won the hearts of his pupils on two hemispheres. It made his home a delight, and his presence a constant blessing.

He assumed the duties of his professorship at Neuchatel in the autumn of 1832, giving his first lecture, "Upon the Relations between the different branches of Natural History and the then prevailing tendencies of all the Sciences," November 12, at the Hotel de Ville. A society for the study of the natural sciences was soon formed, and Agassiz became its secretary. So natural, so enthusiastic, so full of his subject, was he, that everybody became interested. To little companies of his friends and neighbors he lectured on botany, on zooelogy, and the philosophy of nature. Even the children were delighted to gather and be told how lakes, springs, rivers, and valleys are formed.

"When it was impossible to give the lessons out-of-doors, the children were gathered around a large table, where each one had before him or her the specimens of the day, sometimes stones and fossils, sometimes flowers, fruits, or dried plants.... When the talk was of tropical or distant countries, pains were taken to procure characteristic specimens, and the children were introduced to dates, bananas, cocoa-nuts, and other fruits, not to be easily obtained in those days in a small inland town. They, of course, concluded the lesson by eating the specimen, a practical illustration which they greatly enjoyed."

Three months after his settlement at Neuchatel, where eighty louis had been guaranteed to him for three years, he was invited to Heidelberg, to succeed his former professor, Leuckart, in zooelogy. He would receive a salary of five hundred florins, besides about fifteen hundred gulden for lectures and literary work. He declined the honor, because he wished more time to devote to his writing. The following year Neuchatel purchased his collections in natural history, thus affording him some pecuniary aid in his work.

A serious misfortune now threatened him in the loss of sight. Having injured his eyes by microscopic work, for several months he was shut up in a dark room, practising the study of his fossils by touch alone; by the tongue when the fingers were not sufficiently sensitive to feel out the impression. With great care his eyes improved, so that he was able to use them through life more constantly than most persons.

In October, 1833, when he was twenty-six, Agassiz married Cecile Braun of Carlsruhe, the sister of his life-long friend Alexander. They began housekeeping in a small apartment at Neuchatel, both practising the closest economy that the books might be carried on; the "Fresh-Water Fishes," and the "Fossil Fishes." She was a skilful artist, had done much work for her brother in botany, and now helped her young husband in drawing and coloring his fishes.