MARTIUS'S ELOGE ON LEDEBOUR. 61 
pupils of our colleague, had prepared the materials. The last produc- - 
tion of his comprehensive mind was a general critical flora of the Rus- 
sian dominions, arranged aecording to phyto-geographieal provinces, 
and with such a degree of devotion did he pursue this arduous under- 
taking, that his ebbing life only yielded to his manly energies of mind, 
until the completion of his manuscript enabled him to lay down his 
weary pen; but the monument thus reared to him, as a botanist and 
plant-geographer, will secure to Ledebour a grateful place in the history _ 
of the science. 
Becoming Emeritus in 1836, he took to a milder climate, first at 
Odessa, and next at Heidelberg. Thence he removed eight years ago to 
Munich, where he settled, and brought his noble labours to a conclusion 
afew days only before his death, which happened on the 4th July, 
1851, in eonsequence of a lengthened attack of disease in the heart. 
His * Journey to the Altai’ (Berlin, 1829, 2 vols. 8vo) demonstrates, 
among his other works, how very amply his mind was stored; it is a 
treasury of valuable information in matters of geography, geognosy, 
botany, ethnography, and statistics. As regards botany, he belonged 
to the reformed Linnean school, which, by its penetrating, systematic 
inquiries, and the precision of its description of natural objects, appears, 
as it were, to possess a geometrical character. To attain a classical 
skill in exhibiting an object by this method, requires an unconditional — 
devotion to that object in all-its systematical connection, It may 
therefore be said, in praise of our distinguished systematist, that he 
has always remained steady in one direction of a science, which has 
of late diverged into many paths, having once chosen that direction - 
for his pursuit. And this was in harmony with his clear, conside- 
rate, and steady views in all relations of life, which, with the eminent]; 
strict rectitude of his honourable character, and his affability in private 
life, endeared Ledebour indelibly in the memory of those who enjoyed 
the privilege of coming within his sphere of activity. 
