n8 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



cms accounts of his lectures which were then in circulation. 

 " This brought Petrarch to my mind, who bewails the unhappiness 

 of his age upon finding himself ranked among the chief poets in 

 it. With what confidence could I, conscious of my own insuffi- 

 ciency, and full of admiration of other authors, enter the list of 

 writers of chemistry ? At length, however, I undertook the dis- 

 gustful work which I now declare was extorted from me." 



In his prime Boerhaave was. tall, robust, and athletic, hard- 

 ened by exercise, negligent in dress, with a large head, curly 

 brown hair, bright, piercing eyes, and a florid complexion. He 

 was a sincere and affectionate friend, courteous in his professional 

 intercourse, never talking of his own affairs, ready with praise 

 for others, but silent concerning himself.* " There was in his air 

 something rough and artless, but so majestic and great at the 

 same time that no man ever looked upon him without veneration 

 and a kind of tacit submission to the superiority of his genius." 

 He rose at four o'clock in summer and at five in winter. Ten 

 was his usual bedtime. One hour he devoted to prayer and 

 meditation. This, he said, gave him spirit and vigor in the busi- 

 ness of the day. All his abilities he ascribed to the goodness of 

 God. In the severest winter he had neither fire nor stove in his 

 study, where he passed three to four hours in the morning. His 

 library abounded in the works of the best historians, poets, and 

 authors of polite literature as well as in those upon medicine. 



By unceasing industry he produced in rapid succession books, 

 minor treatises, orations, and discussions. Besides the public lec- 

 ture on botany and the private lectures on chemistry, the insti- 

 tutes and practice of physics, which employed him four hours in 

 speaking, he frequently spent an hour in giving a public lecture 

 on some special subject. He allowed nothing to interfere with his 

 duties as a teacher. 



He brought to the lecture room a vast comprehension, a pro- 

 digious memory, and a solid experience. He used no notes ; his 

 manner was concise, clear, and methodical. He illustrated his 

 subjects with quotations from the poets, of which his favorites 

 were Virgil, Ovid, Rapin, and Cowley. Sometimes by a delicate 

 irony he stirred his audience to laughter, but never moved a mus- 

 cle of his own face. His lecture room was thronged. Men came 

 to Leyden from all parts of the world, who regarded it as a special 

 glory to have been taught by the illustrious Boerhaave. As a 

 writer said of him after his death : " Long was he the oracle of 

 his faculty. Never was preceptor more beloved, professor more 

 celebrated, nor physician more consulted." f 



His practice was enormous. A hundred patients, it is said, 



* Gentleman's Magazine, 1739. * Burton, footnote, p. 73. 



