have become well known throughout the scientific world. During his long service at the head of the Museum and under a variety of titles, he expended from his own resources for collections and the buildings to hold them, more than $1,200,000, not including very considerable sums contributed to other allied interests or to the general purposes of the University. At the end of the year 1874 he set out on the first of the many distant expeditions which were made at intervals through the rest of his life. This journey took him to Chile and Peru, and during the course of it he made the exploration of lake Titicaca, an account of which is given in our proceedings for the year 1876. His quick eye showed him at Tilibiche in Peru, a fossil coral reef at an elevation of nearly 3000 feet above the sea and 20 miles inland, and he noted with a certain satisfaction the evidence that Darwin's observations had caused on his part an underestimate of the amount of recent elevation of this coast.

He now entered upon that series of deep sea investigations which in some form had always been of exceeding interest to him. He directed three expeditions in the Atlantic on board the U. S. Steamer "Blake" and three in the Pacific on the "Albatross." The vast material collected on these trips was, with combined wisdom and generosity and in obedience to the rule of the Museum laid down in his father's time, distributed for purposes of description and study to those scientific men everywhere who were best qualified for the work.

Sir John Murray says, and no living authority is better able to make the statement, "If we can say that we now know the physical and biological conditions of the great ocean basins in their broad general outlines — and I believe we can do so the present state of our knowledge is due to the combined work and observations of a great many men belonging to many nationalities, but most probably more to the work and inspiration of Alexander Agassiz than to any other single man."

In these later years he was also much interested in the study of the coral reefs. He organized many expeditions to all parts of the world to the Maldives, to Australia and to remote portions of the Pacific. He saw, explored, and accurately described every important coral reef region on the globe and having done so he felt that he was ready to give his own views to the world.

Darwin saw but one atoll and upon that founded his theory of coral building. Agassiz was at work in his last days upon the publication which would have given to the world the well considered conclusions acquired by the studies of nearly a lifetime. Though his own final

results cannot be surely known, his vast material still exists for some more fortunate investigator. He had written and rewritten his sketch of the book upon this subject and a few days before his death said to his friend, Sir John Murray in London, that it was his intention to practically rewrite the book during the year for the fourth and last time, leaving out all criticism of the work of others and stating exactly what he had himself observed and his own views. It should be understood that Darwin's theory of the coral reefs belonged to his younger years and has no bearing upon his later published theory of natural selection. What Agassiz's views were, upon this and other theories conveniently grouped under the title Darwinism, cannot be accurately stated. It is true that he found much that was objectionable in the opinions maintained by some of Darwin's German followers. No one who knew him, however, can doubt his ability to weigh dispassionately any evidence, which could be produced for this or for any other doctrine, though it might run counter to opinions long entertained by him or by those whom he delighted to honor.

Some intimations of his views upon the position of the Zoologist of today as compared with that of the great men of an earlier generation may be found in the remarks made by him as representative of his class at the Commencement at Harvard in 1905, that being the 50th anniversary of his graduation. He called attention to the inconveniences and the primitive appliances which hampered the work of the student of natural history in his own student days and added, "The change in scientific thought is most striking— fifty years ago authority was the powerful factor — scientific dictators were not uncommon now authority as such is no longer recognized beyond the point at which it can be controlled. Successful experiment has taken its place, and while recognizing the value of imagination and of pleasing speculations, men of science no longer accept the dicta of their leaders."

As John Hunter said to his pupil Jenner, who had asked for the explanation of some perplexing phenomenon, "I think your solution is just; but why think, why not try the experiment." So with Agassiz, discussions had little interest for him when it was not possible to put the conclusion to the test of observation or experiment.

The bibliography of his own scientific papers contains 248 titles which cover a great range of subjects and procured for him marked distinctions throughout the world. No man among men of science promoted the interests of zoology so generously as he. In 1910 the 54th volume of the Bulletin and the 40th volume of the Memoirs

of the Museum of Comparative Zoology were coming from the press. These publications began to appear in 1863-64 and in the number of important and finely illustrated papers which are presented there, they have been excelled by few only of the great and most active scientific societies of the world, yet the expense of producing them was largely borne by Agassiz.

Much has been said about the great sums of money spent by him upon the monument he raised in filial piety to the memory of his father, and which he duly commemorated in that characteristically simple inscription upon the walls of the Museum "Alexander, son of Louis Agassiz, to his father." The voice of the public has named it the Agassiz Museum-father and son were both content to call it the Museum of Comparative Zoology. Whatever legally that title may be, the memory of these two lives will possess a force greater than the statute, and will preserve for generations to come the name common to the enthusiastic founder and to the wise, patient and munificent builder. Whatever Agassiz's contributions in money may have been and others, not he counted them up to sums exceeding any thus far made to the University, yet he gave a greater still in the devotion of himself to the task of developing and making secure the future activities of the Museum. All the material successes he had won in other fields he pledged to the support of the Museum after he had satisfied the reasonable requirements of his family, but of his own labors he made no reservation. The Museum had all that he could bestow.

On the pages of the quinquennial catalogue of Harvard College are enumerated the distinctions conferred upon him by universities, learned societies and foreign governments, they are a sufficient proof of the esteem in which he was held throughout the world. Such distinctions sometimes reveal a more than passive recipient, but they came to him absolutely unsought. His intimates even had little knowledge of the honors bestowed upon him, and rarely obtained it from himself.

The great gold Victoria Research Medal given to him in 1909, was shown to his friends, but this was more for the exquisite beauty of the workmanship of the Medal, than for the pride in receiving it. He had a keen appreciation of anything that had artistic merit and surrounded himself in his home with many beautiful objects of art collected in his travels from all parts of the world. In addition to the Victoria Research Medal of the Royal Geographical Society, he had received the Walker Grand prize of the Boston Society of Natural History and in 1878 the Serres prize of the French Academy of Sciences, the first foreigner to be so honored.

From 1865 onwards in addition to the scientific work of the Museum he was developing and managing most successfully the largest copper mine in the world. He did not rest content with the development of the mine as a problem in engineering, but always mindful of the just obligation of capital to labor, he employed experts for the purpose of securing good conditions of living, caused careful measures to be taken for the protection of life and limb in this hazardous occupation, and secured the formation of pension and aid funds for the benefit of disabled and aged employees to which the corporation made liberal contributions. No workman was so far removed from the authorities in control that his complaint passed by unheard. The whole conduct of the mine is one of the bright spots in the much beclouded world of such enterprises and must still be reckoned among the more satisfactory attempts to bring the workman and his employer into harmonious relations with each other.

A pleasing instance of his thoughtfulness with regard to the population of this mining community is related by one of his friends, the physician who took care of him through a fever which might have been acquired during one of his visits to the mines at Calumet. The physician was asked one day whether he suspected that the disease could have been brought from that place. If that were so, there was something to do at once and that was to take such measures that his work people should be protected from a like danger. Upon this suspicion, possibly unfounded, a thorough overhauling of water supplies and systems of sewerage was at once undertaken there while Agassiz was still confined to his house.

He was early called to service upon the governing boards of Harvard College, he was elected a member of the Board of Overseers in 1873, became a member of the Corporation in 1878, resigned his place there in 1884, and was promptly elected to the Overseers in 1885, was again transferred to the Corporation in 1886, and definitely gave up his place there in 1890, when he found it necessary to free himself from some of his many occupations. During all the period of his connection with these boards he was an active, much interested and far sighted helper in all the departments of the University. The Jefferson laboratory owed much to him for the friendly coöperation with which he promoted the intentions and plans of the generous founder. He gave valued aid to the Observatory, to the Botanical Museum, the Mineralogical Cabinet and the Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology.

He interested himself in the attempt to secure for women a share

in the medical instruction offered by the University. He took a generous part in many of the subscriptions for the general purposes of the College. He witnessed with interest the development of the collections of the Arnold Arboretum under auspices not unlike those with which he was himself so familiar. The members of his College class have given expression to their warm feelings of friendship for one who never forgot his college associates and had a genuine pleasure in all his meetings with them.

The secretary of the class closes a feeling notice of Agassiz's death with these words of appreciation, "No one of the class will miss him more than the secretary does who never went to him in vain for aid in the many common undertakings which bound the class together." He did not forget his early debt to the public schools of Cambridge and willingly accepted service upon the school committee, and while a member of that body devoted all his special knowledge to the service of the city. This appears to be the only public office, subject to election by the people, which he at any time held.

Agassiz was elected a member of the Academy of Arts and Sciences Nov. 12, 1862, he was then in his twenty-eighth year. It was possibly in remembrance of this early election that he suggested in his last note to President Trowbridge the propriety of bringing in to this association a larger number of the younger scientific men than had hitherto been customary. He presented his first paper the next year and made in all thirteen communications, generally upon special subjects in zoology. A very interesting account of his work at Lake Titicaca is an exception, and has an added claim to our attention from the fact that it was made at a time when the death of his wife had left him disconsolate, but it is also an evidence of how resolutely he turned again to the occupations which he followed to the end.

The series of publications put forth by the Museum of Comparative Zoology received the records of his scientific labors after the date of the last communication made to the Academy. When President Cooke died in the summer of 1894, a feeling soon became manifest that Agassiz was the most fit member for the succession. The VicePresident of that year was Augustus Lowell and he was the prompt and enthusiastic leader in the preliminaries usual to an election. Agassiz as might have been expected was very reluctant to allow the use of his name and probably would not have done so, but for the insistence of Mr. Lowell, whose influence was all the greater from the fact that he was one of the earliest friends acquired by Agassiz when he landed a stranger among people speaking an unknown tongue.