Louis Agassiz as a Teacher | Page 9

thus
chronicled by his wife:
'A teacher in the widest sense, he sought and found his pupils in every
class. But in America for the first time did he come into contact with
the general mass of the people on this common ground, and it
influenced strongly his final resolve to remain in this country. Indeed
the secret of his greatest power was to be found in the sympathetic,
human side of his character. Out of his broad humanity grew the genial
personal influence by which he awakened the enthusiasm of his
audiences for unwonted themes, inspired his students to disinterested
services like his own, delighted children in the school-room, and won
the cordial interest, as well as the co-operation in the higher aims of
science, of all classes, whether rich or poor.'
As a general statement the foregoing could not be improved. But the
invitation to prepare this article contained a suggestion of particularity
with which it is possible for me to comply.[Footnote: Not only have I
preserved all the letters from Agassiz, the first dated Sept. 4, 1866, and
the last Nov. 25, 1873, but also my diaries in which are recorded all
significant incidents and conversations from my first introduction in
1856 to the last interview, Sept. 5, 1873. [Note by Professor Wilder.]]
The courses given by Agassiz on zoology and geology were attended
by me during the three years (1859-62) of my pupilage with Jeffries
Wyman, and the two years (1866-68) in which I was the assistant of
Agassiz himself. Naturally, and also for special reasons, the deepest
impression was made by the first and the last of these courses. With the
former the charm of novelty intensified the great, indeed indescribable,

charm of the speaker. No topic was to me so important as the general
problem of animal life, and no expositor could compare with Agassiz.
As an outlet for my enthusiasm each discourse was repeated, to the best
of my ability, for the benefit of my companion, James Herbert Morse,
'63, on the daily four-mile walk between Cambridge and our Brookline
home. So sure was I that all the statements of Agassiz were correct and
all his conclusions sound, that any doubts or criticisms upon the part of
my acute and unprejudiced friend shocked me as a reprehensible
compound of heresy and lese-majesty.
The last course that I heard from Agassiz in Cambridge began on
October 23, 1867, and closed on January 11, 1868. It was memorable
for him and for me. At the outset he announced that some progress had
been made in the University toward the adoption of an elective system
for the students, and that he proposed to apply the principle to his own
instruction, and should devote the entire course of twenty-one lectures
to the Selachians (sharks and rays), a group in which he had been
deeply interested for many years, and upon which he was then
preparing a volume. This limitation to a favorite topic inspired him to
unusual energy and eloquence. My notes are quite full, but I now wish
the lectures had been reported verbatim. This course was signalized
also by two special innovations, viz.: the exhibition of living fish, and
the free use of museum specimens. That, so far as possible, all biologic
instruction should be objective was with Agassiz an educational dogma,
and upon several notable occasions its validity had been demonstrated
under very unfavorable conditions. Yet, during the five years of my
attendance upon his lectures, they were seldom illustrated otherwise
than by his ready and graphic blackboard drawings. The simple fact
was that the intervals between his lectures were so crowded with
multifarious, pressing, and never-ending demands upon his time and
strength that he could seldom determine upon the precise subject long
enough in advance for him, or any one else, to bring together the
desirable specimens or even charts. The second lecture of the course
already mentioned is characterized in my diary as 'splendid,' and as 'for
the first time illustrated with many specimens.' At one of the later
lectures, after speaking about fifteen minutes, he invited his hearers to
examine living salmon embryos under his direction at one table, and
living shark embryos under mine at another.

Like those of Wyman, the courses given by Agassiz were Senior
electives. I never heard of any examination upon them; nor is it easy to
imagine Agassiz as preparing a syllabus, or formulating or correcting
an examination-paper. His personality and the invariable attendance of
teachers and other adults precluded the necessity of disciplinary
measures. But his attitude toward student misconduct was clearly
shown in an incident recorded by me elsewhere.[Footnote: 'Agassiz at
Penikese,' American Naturalist, March, 1898, p. 194. [Note by
Professor Wilder.]] The method pursued by Agassiz with his laboratory
students has been described by