CARL LUDWIG AND CARL THLERSCH. 351 



He loved, moreover, to absorb himself in especial problems, even 

 when they really did not belong to his department. His address as 

 rector at Erlangen on teaching and studying, and especially his 

 Hamlet Glossary, show how much he also liked to devote himself 

 to problems of human psychology. With all this tendency toward 

 the subtleties of mental analysis, Thiersch was yet an accurate ob- 

 server, and full of sound common sense. Endowed with such quali- 

 ties, he easily developed into a clever and experienced judge of 

 human nature. His fine command of language made him a spirited 

 and much-admired speaker. As a general thing, however, he made 

 sparing and thus most effective use of this gift, and even in express- 

 ing serious thoughts he often employed the weapon of a never-failing- 

 humor. 



Thus Thiersch was one of those harmoniously gifted and well- 

 rounded natures who have the power of accomplishing well any task 

 that presents itself to them. As scholar, investigator, and physician,, 

 in the service of peace or of war, as well as now and then in execu- 

 tive positions, he always filled his place and accomplished excellent 

 work. He never put himself forward, but rather let people and 

 things come to him; yet nothing was further removed from him 

 than ostentation, whether as regards his erudition or any other of his 

 mental endowments. He preferred to hide his fine qualities beneath 

 a mantle of dry humor. Those who did not see this absolutely con- 

 scientious man at work might well be doubtful as to his real earnest- 

 ness. He was, however, extremely sensitive to vanity and obtru- 

 siveness in others. When he met with these qualities, he could 

 repel their owners severely by dignified reserve or by pointed 

 remarks. The students who were aware of this danger perhaps 

 avoided it with unnecessary care. 



Thiersch's scientific works, whether on theoretic or practical 

 questions, produce an impression of great maturity and perfection. 

 Often original in their conception, they are always very careful in 

 their plan and execution, and clear in the form of their presentation. 

 His first printed essay, a medical dissertation on materia medica, still 

 shows Schelling's youthful pupil. In the language of natural phi- 

 losophy, he tries in it to deduce the action of medicaments from prin- 

 ciples of the most abstract kind. But Thiersch did not remain long- 

 in this field. In his next works, which he undertakes as prosector, 

 he proves himself already a creditable and thoughtful naturalist. It 

 is the same in his investigations on pyasmia, on the formation 

 of the sexual organs, and in his great experimental treatise on 

 the origin of cholera. When Thiersch became a surgeon, his 

 thorough theoretic knowledge was again and again of use to 

 him, and he also was able to employ to great advantage his re- 



