Marcus Benjamin

“ This city was then the great scientific centre of Europe, and its collections were the richest and most celebrated on the continent. Men who were eminent as specialists were attracted to the capital, and formed part of the brilliant circle under the leadership of the distinguished Humboldt. Cuvier, the great French naturalist, received the young Agassiz with enthusiasm. The valuable treasures of the Paris museum were at his service, and the material collected for years by Cuvier for his work on fishes was freely transferred to the young naturalist. ”

“ This was undoubtedly Agassiz's most important contribution to science, and forms, with Cuvier's, Valenciennes', and Johannes Müller's works, the foundation of our present knowledge of fishes. In this book one thousand species were completely, and seven hundred partially, figured and described. At Neufchâtel he gathered around him young and talented pupils, and the little city became one of the chief seats of science in Switzerland. He created the natural history museum, and was the chief founder of the scientific society, which issued the first volume of its memoirs in 1835. ”

“ His first studies at home were directed by his mother, who was a woman of high endowments and rare culture. At the age of ten years he and his younger brother were sent to the gymnasium at Biel, in the neighboring canton of Bern; here he acquired the ancient and modern languages, which later became so valuable to him in his biological investigations. Very early in life Agassiz showed a fondness for natural science, and in his boyhood days he began collecting specimens. His leisure time at the gymnasium was similarly occupied, and his first collection of fishes dates from this period. ”