In the summer of 1841 Agassiz made a longer Alpine sojourn than
ever before. The special objects of the season's work were the
internal structure of these vast moving fields of ice, the
essential conditions of their origin and continued existence, the
action of water within them as influencing their movement, and
their own agency in direct contact with the beds and walls of the
valleys they occupied. The fact of their former extension and their
present oscillations might be considered as established. It
remained to explain these facts with reference to the conditions
prevailing within the mass itself. In short, the investigation was
passing from the domain of geology to that of physics. Agassiz, who
was as he often said of himself no physicist, was the more anxious
to have the cooperation of the ablest men in that department, and
to share with them such facilities for observation and such results
as he had thus far accumulated. In addition to his usual
collaborators, M. Desor and M. Vogt, he had, therefore, invited as
his guest, during part of the season, the distinguished physicist,
Professor James D. Forbes, of Edinburgh, who brought with him his
friend, Mr. Heath, of Cambridge.* (* As the impressions of Mr.
Forbes were only made known in connection with his own later and
independent researches it is unnecessary to refer to them here.) M.
Escher de la Linth took also an active part in the work of the
later summer. To his working corps Agassiz had added the foreman of
M. Kahli, an engineer at Bienne, to whom he had confided his plans
for the summer, and who furnished him with a skilled workman to
direct the boring operations, assist in measurements, etc. The
artist of this year was M. Jacques Burkhardt, a personal friend of
Agassiz, and his fellow-student at Munich, where he had spent some
time at the school of art. As a draughtsman he was subsequently
associated with Agassiz in his work at various times, and when they
both settled in America Mr. Burkhardt became a permanent member of
Agassiz's household, accompanied him on his journeys, and remained
with him in relations of uninterrupted and affectionate regard till
his own death in 1867. He was a loyal friend and a warm-hearted
man, with a thread of humor running through his dry good sense,
which made him a very amusing and attractive companion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account