Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 78.djvu/136

132 his life to the study of these fossils. It can not be said, however, that he was entirely moulded by Agassiz, for Hyatt was a fearless and independent thinker, and though modest in the expounding of his views, he nevertheless clung tenaciously to his own opinions.

Few men of science have been so free from egotism as was he. He was a kind friend to many a young student of Harvard, for he never seemed to lose his contact with youthful thought, and delighted to receive instruction from old and young and every one great or small around him. In his address before the Agassiz Association in Mechanics Hall in Boston he tells of this, and unwittingly gives us a charming picture of his own generous mind and kindly heart. He was speaking of things the association might do to disseminate an understanding of natural history, and told of his friendship with an old farmer who had formed some geological theories of his own and who knew Professor Hyatt simply as "the man as studies rocks." Hyatt says:

He concluded this address by saying:

In 1863 Hyatt graduated from Harvard with the degree of B.S., his scholarly standing being higher than that of any of Agassiz's pupils who had until then obtained this degree.

His inclinations were all for science, but the civil war had broken out and he felt it his duty to serve in the Union Army. His mother he succeeded in persuading into an acceptance of his views, but it was far otherwise with the remaining members of his family, from whom he became estranged only to be reunited after years of silence. He aided in raising a militia company in Cambridge and enlisted as a private, but was almost immediately commissioned a lieutenant and afterwards promoted to be a captain of the 47th Massachusetts regiment. For a time he was stationed upon Cape Cod and afterwards ordered to New Orleans, where he served as aide-de-camp on General Emory's staff.

I have a letter of this period written by the late Professor N. S. Shaler to their mutual friend, George H. Emerson, in which he says:

The war being over, he was honorably discharged, and returned to Cambridge in 1865 to continue his studies. Louis Agassiz at once