drawing as he talked, till suddenly the
winged creature stood declared upon the
blackboard, almost as if it had burst then
and there from the chrysalis, and the
growing interest of his hearers culminated in a burst of delighted applause."
Agassiz delivered courses of lectures similar to those given in Boston at the Lowell Institute, in Albany, New York, and in Charleston, South Carolina, and with similar success. At the request of the faculty of the College of Physicians in New York, Agassiz during the fall of 1847 gave a series of twelve lectures, and from this time on he was constantly in demand by the lecture-loving American public.
In the summer following his arrival in America, Agassiz established himself in a small house at East Boston. This home soon became "a hive of industry." He had there several artists and assistants, as well as voluntary co-workers, and went actively to work to study marine collections. In three months, from September to December, 1848, he had spent $3000, while his salary at the Lawrence Scientific School was only 81600 a year! (Marcou.)
In 1847 he was appointed to the chair of Zoology and Geology at the scientific school just established by Abbott Lawrence in connection with Harvard College. The salary attached to the chair, $1500, was guaranteed by Mr. Lawrence "until such time as the fees of the students should be worth $3000 to their professor," a time which never came. Agassiz's lectures, with the exception of the more technical lectures addressed to small classes, were always fully attended, but special students were naturally very few in a department of pure science. This was, however, counterbalanced in some degree by the clause in his contract which allowed him entire freedom for lectures elsewhere.
After his appointment, Agassiz removed to Cambridge, where he opened his first course in 1848. There were at the time of his appointment, "neither laboratories nor collections belonging to his department. The specimens indispensable to his lectures were gathered almost by the day, and his outfit, with the exception of the illustrations he had brought from Europe, consisted of a blackboard and a lecture-room. There was no money for the necessary objects, and the want of it had to be supplied by the professor's own industry and resources. On the banks of the Charles River, just where it is crossed by Brighton Bridge, was an old wooden shanty set on piles; it might have served perhaps, at some time, as a bathing or a boat house. The use of this was allowed Agassiz for the storing of such collections as he had brought together. Pine shelves nailed against the walls served for cases, and with a table or two for dissection this rough shelter was made to do duty as a kind of laboratory. The fact is worth noting, for here was the beginning of the Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, now admitted to a place among the great institutions of its kind in the world." (E. C. Agassiz.)
Much of his time was devoted to obtaining funds for this museum and its organization. So great were his persuasive powers that he obtained generous grants from the state Legislature during war times. In all he raised by public and private subscription about $700,000 for the museum, an amount since greatly increased by gifts from his son, Alexander. Agassiz took part in several scientific expeditions, among them one to Florida, one to Brazil, and one by sea from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, fully utilizing opportunities this afforded for obtaining material for his pot museum.
Not long after Agassiz came to America his first wife died and in 1S50 he married Elizabeth C. Cary, sister-in-law of President Felton of Harvard University. Mrs. E. C. Agassiz was of the greatest help to her husband. To increase his resources she established a private school for girls in which Agassiz himself was one of the teachers. This proved a success and Agassiz was a great favorite with the pupils.
