SKETCH OF PROFESSOR DU BOIS-REYMOND. 361 



tion have hitherto been so narrow that the public has not yet been able 

 to recognize his greatness as a thinker on high questions of scientific 

 philosophy. We do not say that Prof. Du Bois-Reymond is more than 

 a scientist, for, in our view, that is a term of great breadth, but we 

 do say that he is much more than a scientific specialist. He is a com- 

 prehensive and cultivated thinker. For largeness, originality, and in- 

 dependence of view, for depth of analysis and thoroughness of erudi- 

 tion, and for clearness, vividness, and vigor of style, he has no supe- 

 rior among his distinguished German contemporaries. His celebrated 

 address on " The Limits of our Knowledge of Nature," which attracted 

 great attention in Europe, was first presented to the English-speaking 

 public in The Popular Science Monthly for May, 1874 ; and we now 

 offer another of his productions to our readers, which is the subject of 

 comment elsewhere. Prof. Du Bois-Reymond is in the vigorous ma- 

 turity of his life, and, although he has done a great deal of valuable 

 work, much more is still expected from him. We hope in due time to 

 bring before the American public some other of his able productions 

 that are suited to popular appreciation. 



Emil du Bois-Reymond was born in Berlin, November 7, 1818. 

 His father, a native of Neufchatel, in Switzerland, had in his youth 

 been a watch-maker, but subsequently entered upon a literary and offi- 

 cial career in Berlin. Du Bois-Reymond's mother was descended from 

 the Huguenots, who were driven from their country by Louis XIV. 

 Among: his maternal ancestors we must not omit to mention the cele- 

 brated artist and engraver, Daniel Chodowiecki, called by some the 

 Hogarth of Germany. 



After the fashion prevalent in Germany, Du Bois-Reymond first 

 attended a primary school, then the College Francois of his native town ; 

 but, when he was about eleven years old, his parents went to live sev- 

 eral years in Switzerland, and during this period he was a pupil of the 

 College of Neufchatel. The French language, therefore, was from his 

 childhood as familiar to him as German. 



Later on, we again find Du Bois-Reymond in Berlin ; and at the age 

 of eighteen he became a student at the university of that town. It is 

 said that, like many others who afterward distinguished themselves in 

 natural science, he first devoted himself to theological studies, and 

 that, during a session, he regularly attended Neander's lectures on 

 ecclesiastical history. Chancing, however, to enter the lecture-room of 

 the celebrated chemist Mitscherlich, he felt irresistibly drawn toward 

 his true vocation. He now studied chemistry, natural philosophy, 

 mathematics, and during the summer of 1838, which he spent at Bonn, 

 on the Rhine, also geology, without any very definite aim. 



This was eventually pointed out to him by a friend, the late Dr. 

 Edward Hallmann, who, with greater scientific experience, convinced 

 him that, of all the branches of science, the study of animated Nature 

 affords the highest interest and includes the deepest problems, and 



