122 BOTANICAL INFORMATION. 
Schreber entertained an extraordinary fondness towards the animals 
which he kept. I had brought him, from Regensburg, a remarkably 
tame squirrel, of a curious ash-grey colour. It suffered, in its advanced 
age, from retention of urine, which we treated scientifically with liquor 
kali acetici. A lively little American squirrel, which was running 
about in a closet adjoining the study, took it into its head to amuse 
its solitary hours by exercising its teeth on the polished surfaces of a 
handsome cupboard. The article of furniture had already lost its po- 
lish as well as its corners, when I was called into aid to chase the ill 
manners out of the hairy hermit. I proposed besmearing the cup- 
board with a saturated solution of aloes, hoping that the beast would 
be kept away by the bitterness. But it turned out, that instead of 
gnawing, it now amused itself with licking; for one morning I was 
anxiously conducted to the darling little animal—it had got a violent 
diarrhea. I recommended an emulsion of almonds; the professor, an 
enema mucilaginosum. Mr, Aulic-Counsellor Schreber, and his che- 
mical assistant Martius, were now seen administering emulsion and 
elysters to the poor animal. If any of these nurslings happened to 
bite his finger, he would say, “ Ah! the poor little creature has stuck by 
its teeth.” i 
I had thus the honour to come in close contact with this distin- 
guished naturalist, who was otherwise so inaccessible, and whose inter- 
course with his own colleagues even was very limited. His household was 
extremely cleanly, simple, tasteful, quiet, and recluse. His wife, born 
Schönfeld, from Saxony, was a fine, talented, very gentle and amiable 
lady. They bad no children. He occupied a room on the second 
floor which no one durst enter except his wife. Here Dutch cleanli- 
ness and pedantic regularity dominated. Every article bad its specific 
place. His writing-table was kept with as much neatness as the toilet- 
table of a lady of quality. 1 think I can trace these peculiarities even 
to his fine, regular and sharp writing, in which the characters arrange 
themselves in rigid array. Close to the study was his rich and well- 
arranged library. On the first floor was his herbarium ; in a separate 
room his other collections in natural history. Only few mortals were 
permitted to enter these sanctuaries: he watched over them with a 
solicitude not to be described. ; 
His connections in the East and West Indies, on which he spent con- 
siderable sums of money, gave a great value to his collections ; these 
