AGASSIZ, or Prrneh pron.
11'ga'si", ALEXANDER An American naturalist, capitalist,. and philanthropist. 110 was horn at Neuchatel, Switzerland, December 17, 1835, the only son of Louis .1gassiz. lie joined his father in Boston in 1849, and gradu ated at. Harvard College in 1855. 1 le was made a bachelor of science by the Lawrenee Scientific School in 1857 ; became assistant in the United States Coast Survey in California in 1859, and was assistant in the Alusduni of Comparative at Harvard College from 1800 to 181;5. At this time he became interested in coal and later in copper mining. and assisted in the de velopment of the Calumet and Ileela mines of native copper on the south shores of Lake Su perior. These mines were then in an unpro ductive condition, but Agassiz, as superintend ent. applied his extensive knowledge of geology. chemistry, and engineering. and so developed them that they have since yielded to him and his ass/whites great mitt'. which he has used to advance zoiilogieal research. After visiting dif ferent museums in Europe (1869-7))). he was ap pointed curator (1574) of the :Museum of Com pa•ative Zordogy, which his father had founded. He retained this position nominally until 1S97, and was for sonic time a fellow of Harvard Uni versity. Ills chief has been in marine zordogy, where his studies of life, and especially of the development of polyps, jellyfishes, and echinoderms have placed him in the first rank of investigators. lie explored Lake
Titicaca and the coast of Chile during 1874-75, and founded in 1875 a private laboratoryand salt water aquarium near his residence overlooking Narragansett Bay, at Newport, R. 1. He su perintended deep-sea dredging among the West Indies, in the tTnited States steamer Blake, from 1877 to 1880, and in successive winters he tuts explored all the oceans, adding greatly to the knowledge of the fauna of the deep sea. His more important works are: :cart!: mcriritit ca frphs ( 805 ) ; Recision of the Eehini (1572); North American Starfishes (1877): Report on the Echini of the Challenger Expedi tion (1551): Three Cruises of the Blake (1858) The Ishrmls and Coral Reefs of Fiji (1899). The latter includes a philosophical discussion of the whole subject of coral formations. lie con firmed this line of work in 1901-02 by a private expedition to the :Maldive Islands.. Sir. Agassiz has given a million Or more toward furthering the study of zordogy at Harvard Uni versity and elsewhere. always in an unostenta tious way, and his abilities have been recognized by many universities and scientific societies in both Europe and the United States, where he is president of the National Academy of Science awl of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.