EMERSON

What We Owe To Louis Agassiz, as
Teacher

WHAT WE OWE

LOUIS AGASSI/,

AS A TEACHER.

AN ADDRESS BY

GEORGE B. EMERSON,

BEFORE THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY, JAN. 7, 18T4.

BOSTON:

1874.

WHAT WE OWE

LOUIS AGASSIZ,
AS A TEACHER.

AN ADDRESS BY

GEORGE B. EMERSON,

BEFORE THE BOSTON SOCIETY OF NATURAL HISTORY, JAN. 7, 18M.

BOSTON

1874.

UCSB LIBRARY

ADDRESS.

MR. PRESIDENT: —

I thank yon, for the great honor you do me by inviting me
to say something before, and in behalf of, your Society, in
commemoration of the most distinguished naturalist that
has appeared among us. You know how reluctantly I con-
sented to speak, and I feel how inadequately I shall be able
to represent the Society. Yet I cannot but admit that there
is some apparent propriety in your request. I was one of
those who formed this Society. All the others who first met,
except one, are gone ; Dr. B. D. Greene, Dr. J. Ware, F. C.
Gray and the rest. My old friend, Dr. Walter Channing,
alone, in whose office most of the first meetings were held,
is still living. Moreover, while I was in the seat you now oc-
cupy, it was agreed by my associates that it was very proper
and desirable that a Survey of the State, Botanical and Zoo-
logical, should be made, to complete that begun by Prof.
Hitchcock in Geology. At their request I presented to Gov.
Everett a memorial suggesting this.

Our suggestion was graciously received. Gov. Everett
brought the subject before the Legislature, in which some
friends of Natural History in the House of Representatives
had already been acting toward the same end ; an appropria-
tion was made, and he was authorized to appoint a commis-

sion for that purpose. On that commission four members of
this Society were placed ; the reports of three of whom, Dr.
Harris, Dr. Gould and Dr. Storer, have been, and still con-
tinue to be, considered of signal and. permanent value, and
Mr. Agassiz himself regarded them as among the best re-
ports ever made. It has given and still gives me the great-
• est satisfaction to know that the Society has been continually
- going forward, and that it is now more prosperous than ever.

A little more than twenty-seven years ago, as I was sitting
in my study, a message came to me that two gentlemen de-
sired to see me. They were immediately admitted, and Dr.
Gould introduced me to Louis Agassiz. His noble presence,
the genial expression of his face, his beaming eye and
earnest, natural voice, at once gained me, and I responded
cordially to his introduction. He said, " I have come to see
you, because Dr. Gould tells me that you know the trees
of Massachusetts ; I wish to be made acquainted with the
Carya. I have found the leaves and fruit of several species in
the Jura Mountains, where they were deposited when those
mountains were formed; but, since that time, none have been
found living in Europe. I want to know them as they are
now growing."

I told him that I knew all the species found in New Eng-
land, and should be glad to show them to him. "But I
have," I said, " presently to begin my morning's work. If
you will let me call on you immediately after dinner, I shall
be glad to take you to them."

At the time fixed, I called on him at his lodgings and took
him, in my chaise, first to Parker's Hill, where one species of
hickory grew, then through Brookline, Brighton and Cam-

bridge, where two others were found, and to Chelsea, where
a fourth, and one that might be a variety, were growing. I
pointed out the characteristics of each species in growth,
branching, bark, fruit and leaves, and especially in the buds.
He listened with the most captivating attention, and ex-
pressed surprise at my dwelling upon the peculiarities of the
buds. "I have never known the buds to be spoken of as
characteristic," said he ; " that is new to me." He admitted
the distinct peculiarities of structure in the buds; and, I have
no doubt, remembered every word I said, for, a few months
afterwards, I saw, in a newspaper, that Mr. Agassiz would
give a lecture, in Roxbury, on the buds of trees.

We drove on to Chelsea Beach, which stretches off sev-
eral miles, — apparently without end, — and, as the tide was
very low, was then at least a quarter of a mile wide. He was
charmed with everything, expi-essing his pleasure with all the
earnestness of a happy child, hardly able to restrain himself
in his admiration and delight. He told me that he had never
before been on a sea-beach, but that he was familiar with the
undulations and wave marks on the old beaches laid open in
the Jura Mountains.

I need not say what a pleasant drive this was. I had long
felt great interest in various departments of Natural History,
but had been so fully occupied with my own duties, as a
teacher, that I had been able to indulge myself fully, and that
for a small part of the year, in one only. Here was a com-
panion who was intimately acquainted with all, and with the
most distinguished men who had been advancing them, and
who was ready and happy to communicate wealth of inform-
ation upon every point I could ask about.

Some days after, I invited all the members of this Society

to meet Mr. Agassiz at my house. Every one came that
could come. They conversed very freely on several subjects,
and Agassiz showed the fulness of his knowledge, and his
remarkable powers of instant observation. All seemed to
feel what a precious accession American science was to re-
ceive.

Not long afterwards, Mr. Agassiz accepted an invitation
to spend Christmas with us. We took some pains, ourselves
and our children, among whom were thefl two bright boys,
full of fun and frolic, one in college, and one nearly pi-epared
to enter. He was easily entertained, entering heartily, joy-
ously and hilariously, into everything, games and all, as if
he were still as young as the youngest, but full of feeling,
and moved, even to tears, by some poor lines to him and his
native land.

My friends,! have thus shown you how intimate I became,
for a few weeks, with Agassiz, Avhorn I found the wisest, the
most thoroughly well-informed and communicative, the most
warm-hearted and the most modest man of science, with
whom, personally, or by his works, I had ever become ac-
quainted. I did not keep up that intimate acquaintance,
both because I was too busy in my own work, and because I did
not deem myself worthy to occupy so much of his lime,
consecrated, as it was, to science and the good of mankind.
The strong impression he made on me, was made on almost
all who ever listened to, or even met, him. It is not surpris-
ing then, that * •

The news of the death of Agassiz caused a throb of an-
guish in millions of hearts. Such a death is a loss to man-
kind. What death among kings or princes in the Old World,

or among the aspirants for power, or the possessors of wealth,
in the New, could produce such deep-felt regret ?

He is gone. We shall see his benignant face and hear his
winning voice no more; but we have before us his example,
and his works. Let us dwell, for a few moments, on some
features in his life and character, as an inspiration and a guide,
especially to those who mean to devote their leisure, or their
life, to Natural History, or to the great work of teaching !
What a change has taken place, in the whole civilized world,
and especially in this country, in men's estimation of the value
and interest of these pursuits, since he began his studies.
To whom is that change more due than to Agassiz ?

He was endowed by nature with extraordinary gifts. His
fascinating eye, his genial smile, his kindliness and ready
sympathy, his generous earnestness, his simplicity and ab-
sence of pretention, his transparent sincerity ; — these account
for his natural eloquence and persuasiveness of speech, his
influence as a man, and his attraction and power as a teacher.
For the development and perfecting of many of his highest
and most estimable qualities of mind and character, Mr.
Agassiz was doubtless indebted to his noble mother, who,
judging from every thing we can learn, was a very rare
and remarkable woman. To the quiet, homely, household
duties, for which the Swiss women are distinguished, she
added, unconsciously, very uncommon mental endowments,
which she wisely cultivated by extensive reading of the best
authors, and by conversation with the most intelligent persons^.

Trained by such a mother, Agassiz grew up in the belief
of a Creator, an infinite and all-wise Intelligence, Author
and Governor of all things. He was sincerely and humbly
religious. During his whole life, while exploring every secret

8

of animal structure, he saw such wonderful consistency in
every part, that he never for a moment doubted that all were
parts of one vast plan, the work of one infinite, all-compre-
hending Thinker. He saw no place for accident, none for
hlind, unthinking, brute or vegetable selection. Though he
was a man of the rarest intellect, he was never ashamed to
look upwards and recognize an infinitely higher and more
comprehensive Intellect above him.

In his earliest years and through childhood, lie was sur-
rounded by animals, — fishes, birds and other creatures, —
which he delighted to study, and with whose habits and
forms he thus became perfectly familiar. His education, in
all Respects, was very generous and thorough. He spent his
early years in some of the most distinguished schools and
colleges in Germany; and he had the good fortune to be
made early a student of the two great languages of ancient
times. He became familial-, by reading them in their native
Greek, Avith the high thought and reasoned truth and grace-
ful style of Plato, and the accurate observations and descrip-
tions of Aristotle, the nicest observer of ancient times, and
justly considered the father of natural history. Probably no
work has been more sug~gestive to him than Aristotle's History
of Animals ; and probably his own breadth of conception and
largeness of thought, upon the highest subjects, were due, in
no inconsiderable degree, to his early familiarity with Plato.
He also read some of the best Latin authors, and wrote the
language with great ease.

No one who, early, has the time and opportunity, and who
desires to become a thorough naturalist, or a thinker on any
subject, should neglect the study of these two languages.
From them we boiTow nearly all the peculiar terms of nat-

ural science, and find the originals of almost all the words
which we use in speaking on ethical, metaphysical, sesthetical
and political subjects, and no one can be sure that he per-
fectly understands any of these words unless he knows them
in their original language.

I dwell upon this subject, because I believe that the early
study of language, especially of the ancient languages, is far
too much undervalued. We use language, not only in our
communication with others, but in our own thoughts. On
all subjects of science, or whatever requires accurate thought,
we think in words, and we cannot think, even within our-
selves, upon any subject, without knowing the words to ex-
press our thoughts. He who is most fully and familiarly
acquainted with the richest language and the thoughts that
have been expressed by it, has the power of becoming not
only a good thinker but an eloquent speaker. No greater
mistake can be made, in the early education of the future
naturalist, than the neglect to give him a full and familial-
acquaintance with the words by which thought can be car-
ried on or communicated.*

Agassiz's mother-tongue was French, but both this and
German were in common use in -the Pays de Vaud. He
lived, for years afterwards, in several parts of Germany, -and
thus attained, without special study, the rich language which

* It is a matter of the greatest satisfaction that the only true mode of learning
language, the natural one, by word of mouth from living teachers, is becoming
common ; the language itsslf first, and afterwards the philosophy of it — the rules.
It is most desirable that this mode of teaming the ancient languages should be in-
troduced, to learn first the language, to read and understand it, and afterwards the
rules. Indeed I would not recommend the study even of Greek, if most or much
of the time given to it had to bs thrown away upon the grammar. The true mode,
Agassiz' mode, of teaching on all subjects, is becoming more and more common.
2

10

we Americans have to give so much time to acquire ; and he
lived, long, a studious and laborious life in Paris, where he
became intimately acquainted with Cuvier and other distin-
guished naturalists, and perfectly familiar with the French
language in its best form. More than once, when he was
putting his note-book into his pocket, he told me he knew
not whether he had made his notes in German or in French.

Agassiz's universality of study and thought suggest a pre-
cious lesson. It is never safe to give one's self entirely to one
study or to one course of thought. The full powers of the
mind cannot so be developed. Nature is infinite ; and a small
part of one kingdom cannot be understood, however care-
fully studied, without some knowledge of the rest.

Neither must a man allow himself to be a mere naturalist.
Every man ought to seek to form for himselfr for his own hap-
piness and enjoyment, the highest character for intelligence,
and for just and generous feeling, of which he is capable.
He is not a mere student of a department of nature. He
is a man; he must make himself a wise, generous and well-
informed man, able to sympathise with all that is most beau-
tiful in nature and art, and best in society. It would be a
poor, dull world, if all men of talent were to educate them-
selves to be mere artisans, mere politicians, or mere natu-
ralists.

Agassiz took a large, comprehensive view of the whole
field of natural history ; his thorough education and intimate
acquaintance with the works of the highest men in several
walks, Von Martius, Cuvier, Humboldt, and others, made it
possible for him to do it, and he then fixed on certain depart-
ments, and, for the time, he gave himself entirely to one.

11

As a future inhabitant of America, it was fortunate for him
to have been bora, and to have grown up, in one of the free
cantons of Switzerland. He was thus accustomed to treat
men as equals ; and thus his perfect familiarity and his free-
dom from all assumption were as natural to him as they
were graceful and winning. He looked down upon none,
but felt a sympathy with every thing best in every heart.
The reality of these great human qualities gave a natural
dignity which his hearty and ready laugh could never
diminish. Every one was drawn toward him by what was
best in himself. With the greatest gentleness he united a
strong will, and with a resolute earnestness, untiring patience.
His great object was truth, and, as he never had any doubt
that it was truth, he may have been impatient, but he never
felt really angry with those who opposed it.

Mr. Agassiz had, for several years, the great advantage and
privilege of being an assistant, in the description and delinea-
tion of fishes from Brazil, to Von Martins, the genial and elo-
quent old man of Munich. In him he had the example of a
man, who, with great resources as a naturalist, had, for many
years, given himself, in a foreign country, to the study of a
single department of Botany, without, howevei', shutting his
eyes to any thing that was new and remarkable in any page
of Natural History. To one who was a good listener and
never forgot what he heard, what a preparation must this
have been for his own expedition, many years after, to the
sources of the Amazon, to which he was invited by the Em-
peror of Brazil, in which he was assisted by the princely aid
of his own friends, and from which he brought home a greater
number of new species of fresh water fishes than were ever
before discovered by one individual, thus carrying forward

12

that work upon the fishes of Brazil, his first Work, which he
had published when he was twenty-two years old.

He spent the leisure of several years in examining the reefs
and dredging in the waters of the coast of Florida and other
parts, always bringing home stores of new species and genera,
and completing the history of innumerable known ones.
What a preparation were these years for the great Hasler ex-
pedition, in which the depths of the ocean were very fully
explored, and innumerable objects, new and old, were brought
up, showing that the bottom of the ocean is any thing but
barren, and throwing new light upon the geology of recent
and of ancient times.

Whenever Mr. Agassiz undertook a special work, he pre-
pared himself for it by a careful study of whatever had been
done in that particular line by all others. He had seen, every-
where, indications of the action of ice. He determined to
investigate. He began by reading all he could find upon the
subject, and then set himself to observe, patiently and care-
fully, what was taking place in the glaciers themselves. He
gave the leisure of several years to this examination, and
then felt himself ready to observe the effects of similar ac-
tion in former ages and distant regions. The opinions of
such an observer, after such a preparation, cannot be without
authority and value ; and it. is not surprising that he should
not himself have been willing to yield them to those oi
others who had never given the same study to the subject.

When he wrote his wonderfully compltte work upon the
American Testtidinata, he began by studying whatever had
been written in regard to that family of animals, and he fur-
nished himself; by the liberal aid of many friends, with im-
mense numbers of specimens, so that he had ample means of

13

satisfying himself in regard to almost every question that
could he asked, as to structure or habits.* Such a work will
not need to be done over again for many years. It can never
be entirely superseded except by a work showing greater dil-
igence, greater fidelity and better powers of nice observation
and faithful description.

Let no one who has not carefully examined this, and his
other papers in the " Contributions to the Natural History of
the United States," venture to speak of his incompleteness.

His example as a teacher has been of inestimable value, as
showing the importance of the best and largest possible
preparation, teaching by things really existing and not by
books, opening the eye to the richness and beauty of nature*
showing that there is no spot, from the barren sea-beach to
the top of the mountain, which does not present objects at-
tractive to the youngest beginner, and worthy of, and reward-
ing, the careful consideration of the highest intellect.

The town of Neufchatel, near which Mr. Agassiz was born,
and particularly the hills behind it, give fine views of natural
scenery. From a hill, not two miles from his former home,
I had a view of the lake and the plains and mountains be-
yond, which I now recall as one of the widest, most varied
and most exquisite, I have ever seen. Agassiz thus grew up
to a love of the beautiful.

This love of the beautiful in nature has been increasing
from the most ancient times to the present. It is more gener-
ally felt and more fully enjoyed now than ever before, and in

* In speaking of the thorough execution of the works in the four volumes, we
ought not to forget the aid he received from the exquisite skill in drawing and
engraving of Sonrel, who wore out liis eyes in the work, and of Burckhardt and
Clark.

14

this country, apparently, more than in any other. More per-
sons leave the cities, as soon as they begin to grow warm and
dusty, to enjoy the country or the seaside, the mountains or
the lakes ; and they enjoy rationally and heartily. Who has
done more than Agassiz to increase this enjoyment? With
thousands, it is becoming not merely the enjoyment but the
study of the beautiful. Collections of shells, curious animals,
minerals, sea- weeds, and flowers, are becoming, like libraries,
not only sources of pleasure to the eye, but of delightful
study, whereby a nearer approach is made to the very foun-
tain of enjoyment ; we not only see and feel, we begin to un-
derstand. The more we see of the uses, of the wonders, of
the structure, the more profound is our enjoyment? Who
has done more than Agassiz to awaken this enjoyment?
. In 1855, with the aid of Mrs. Agassiz, who, from the be-
ginning, did a great deal of the work, Mr. Agassiz opened a
school for young ladies. For this he was, in all respects,
admirably well qualified. The charm of his manner, his per-
fect simplicity, sincerity and warm-heartedness, attracted
every pupil, and won her respect, love and admiration. He
knew, almost instinctively, what we teachers have to learn by
degrees, that we cannot really attract, control and lead a
child, and help to form his habits and character, without first
loving him; that nothing in the world is so powerful as real,
disinterested affection. He gave, himself, by lectures most
carefully prepared, an hour's instruction, real instruction,
every day. All his pupils retain their respect and love for
him, and some keep the notes they made of his talks, and
read them with delight. The school was continued for seven
years, with great success, attracting pupils from distant parts
of the country.

15

One of the secrets of his success as a teacher was, that he
brought in nature to teach for him. The young ladies of a
large school were amused at his simplicity in putting a grass-
hopper into the hand of each, as he came into the hall; but
they were filled with surprise and delight, as he explained the
structure of the insect before them, and a sigh of disappoint-
ment escaped from most of them when the lesson, of more
than an hour, closed. He had opened their eyes to see the
beauty of the Avonderful make of one of the least of God's
creatures. What a lesson was this to young women prepar-
ing to be teachers in the public schools of the Commonwealth,
showing that in every field might be found objects to excite,
and, well explained, to answer, the questions, what? and
how ? and why ? which children will always be asking.

He had all the elements necessary to an eloquent teacher :
voice, look and manner, that instantly attracted attention ;
an inexhaustible flow of language, always expressive of rich
thoughts, strong common sense, a thorough knowledge of all
the subjects on which he desired to speak, a sympathy with
others so strong that it became magnetic, and a feeling of the
value of what he had to say, which became and created en-
thusiasm. He thus held the attention of his audience, not
only instructing and persuading them, but converting them
into interested and admiring fellow students.

His mode of teaching, especially in his ready use of the
chalk and the blackboard, was a precious lesson to teachers.
He appealed at once to the eye and to the ear, thus naturally
forming the habit of attention, which it is so difficult to form
by the study of books. Whoever learns this lesson will soon
find that it is the teacher's part to do the study, to get com-
plete possession of what is to be taught, in any subject, and

10

how it is to be presented, while it is the part of the pupils
to listen attentively and to remember. This they will easily
do, and, to show that they do remember, they may be easily
led to give an account, in writing, of what they have heard.
Every lesson will thus be not only an exercise of attention
and memory, but a lesson ia the English language, proper in-
struction in which is very much needed and very much
neglected. Whenever a pupil does not fully understand, the
teacher will have the opportunity, while he is at the black-
board, of enlarging and making more intelligible.

Wherever the teacher shall be successful in adopting this
true and natural mode of teaching, the poor text-books which
now infest the country will be discontinued, and those Avho
now keep school will become real teachers ; school keeping
will be turned into teaching. When this method is f lirly in-
troduced, we shall hear no more of long, hard lessons at
home, nor of pupils from good schools who have not learned
to write English.

The advent of Agassiz is to be considered a most import-
ant event in the Natural History of the country. The ex-
ample of his character, his disinterestedness, his- consecration
to science, his readiness to oblige even the humblest and most
modest, his superiority to self-interest, his sincerity and ab-
sence of all pretention, his enthusiasm in all that is noble —
all these recommended not only him, but the science he pro-
fessed. Never was a life more richly filled with study, work,
thought ; and all was consecrated, not to the benefit of him-
self, but to the promotion of science for the good of his fellow
creatures.

For many years Mr. Agassiz has seemed to live only for
the advancement of natural history, by the building up of

17

his Museum, for which he had collected materials, of the
greatest possible diversity, which would, properly cared for
and arranged, form a Museum superior in numbers and vari-
ety to any similar collection in the world. Shall this great
work be allowed to fail ?

Let every person who honors the memory of Agassiz, say
No ! Let every one who regrets that the great main support
of the noble structure is taken away, resolve that it shall not
fail, BUT that, so far as depends on him and what he can do,

IT SHALL GO ON AND BE BUILT AND PILLED, AND STAND
FIRM, A GLORIOUS TEMPLE OF SCIENCE FOREVER.

3/

fit- f

E5

JEfflffiSfi REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

THE LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

Santa Barbara

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW.