BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FREDERICK WOHLER. 539 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF FREDERICK WOHLER. 



By Professor CIIAELES A. JOY. 



FREDERICK WOHLER, the Nestor of German chemists, was 

 born July 31, 1800, in the little hamlet of Eschersheim, near 

 Frankfort-on-tke-Main, in the house of the village pastor who was his 

 uncle by marriage. How it happened that the mother was away from 

 home at such an important period for this was not her residence is 

 worthy of record, as it shows that there were heroic elements in the 

 family for the son to inherit. The father held the office of equerry to 

 the Elector of Hesse-Cassel in the early part of this century. This 

 Elector is celebrated in history for the violence of his temper. He was 

 one day visiting the royal stables in company with the equerry, and 

 on this occasion was so particularly insulting and unreasonable that, 

 endurance having ceased to be a virtue, Wohler seized a horsewhip, 

 and then and there gave his Royal Highness such a castigation as he 

 had often enough richly merited, but doubtless never expected to 

 receive. The equerry then jumped upon the back of the fleetest horse 

 in the stables, and, accompanied by a groom who was to return the 

 steed, soon put a safe distance between himself and the impending 

 wrath of his sovereign. The august Elector, fearing ridicule, thought 

 it wisest to let the matter drop, and never pursued the fugitive. It 

 became necessary, however, for the family to make a hasty retreat 

 from Cassel, and the wife took refuge in the house of her sister, where 

 she remained until the birth of the subject of our sketch. The parents 

 subsequently purchased a small estate at Rodelsheim, where they 

 resided until 1812, when they removed to Frankfort. 



Frederick's first instruction in writing, drawing, and later in French, 

 was imparted by his father, who was a university-bred man of unusual 

 intelligence. When he was about seven years old he attended the 

 public school, and received, in addition, private lessons in Latin, 

 French, and music. A fondness for experiments and for making col- 

 lections early manifested itself, and was judiciously encouraged by his 

 father and an intimate friend who had, in the capacity of private tutor 

 to a nobleman, spent some time at the University of Gottingen, and 

 had, while there, devoted special attention to the study of the natural 

 sciences. This friend owned considerable chemical and physical appa- 

 ratus, with which he exhibited experiments to the boy, and also allowed 

 the youth to practice his skill, particularly with the battery, which 

 was the great novelty of the day. In addition to these experiments, 

 all sorts of minerals which presented any peculiarity of appearance 

 were collected for future examination. 



In 1814 Wohler entered the high school (gymnasium) at Frankfort, 



