AGASSIZ, LOUIS JOHN RUDOLPH.
Isn't that a pretty name? When he was a little Swiss boy roaming about
his home, I wonder if his mother called him Louis or Rudolph, or plain
John? How many years ago was that? Oh, not so very many. It was one May
day, in 1807, that he opened his eyes on this world. I don't know very
much about his boyhood that can be told here. He was always a good
scholar. Everybody who has anything to say of him seems to be sure of
that. And on questioning them, I find they mean by it that he worked
hard at his lessons and learned them. No boy or girl must think that
good scholars are born so. Every one of them has to work for their
wisdom. Our boy studied at home. His father was a minister. When he was
old enough he was sent away to the best schools within reach, where he
studied medicine. He became a famous man, but not as a physician. The
fact is he was an ichthyologist. Ah, now I've caught you! Who knows the
meaning of that word? Boys, are there any ichthyologists among your
friends? I asked a little girl what the word meant. She did not know and
turned to her tall brother who was studying Latin. "Humph!" he said. "Of
course I know. It is one who understands ichthyology."
"But what is ichthyology?" she persisted.
"Why, it is--it is ichthyology, of course," he said; and that is as much
as he seemed to know about it.
Really, I think we can do better than that. An ichthyologist is one who
understands all about fishes. Think of the little slippery, scaly things
having such a long word as that belonging to them! Where did they get
it? Oh, go back to the Greek language, and ask your father, or your
brother, or somebody, to tell you the Greek word for fish, and you will
be able to guess the rest out for yourselves.
Well, Louis John Rudolph, when he was quite a boy, was chosen by some
scientific men to study out the story of some fishes that were brought
from the Amazon River. You see he must have had a good name as a
student, or this honor would never have come to him. It seems he did his
work well, and became so interested that he went on studying fishes.
When he was about twenty-one, he began to write papers about their
curious and wonderful varieties, which showed so much knowledge that
scholars began to get very much interested in the student, as well as in
his fishes. As the years went by, and the boy became a man and was
called Mr. Agassiz, he became known all over the world for his knowledge
in this direction; he grew more and more interested. He found fishes
everywhere. Fossil fishes next began to interest him. What are they?
Why, fishes turned to stone. He found them among the rocks of
Switzerland. Very little was known about them. Agassiz undertook to find
out all he could. I have not time, nor room, to tell you the story of
his long hard years of work. I can only tell you that he succeeded. His
name is great, because he has been a great helper to students. It is
great for another reason. The more he studied the wonderful works of
God, the more he seemed to learn to love and trust God. The more he read
of the rocks, and the bones, scattered over the earth, the more sure he
was that the Bible was true. He came to our own country when he was not
much over thirty years old, and lived there for the rest of his life;
always studying, and teaching others. He became a professor in Cambridge
University, where he helped to build a monument for himself in the
Museum of Natural History which has helped and is helping so many
students. He was not an old man when he died--only about sixty-six
years; but he did more work in those years than most men accomplish who
live to be eighty.