5 o THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



the science of drugs in perfection. To such an apothecary, residing at 

 Heppenheim, near Darmstadt, Liebig went, and remained there about 

 ten months, but in that occupation as an apprentice his mind soon 

 became wearied, he saw that he could not attain his object ; and when, 

 while continuing some of his early experiments on the fulminates, on 

 one occasion he had the misfortune to produce a great explosion, 

 this fact quickly terminated his apprenticeship, and he returned to 

 Darmstadt. These explosions in the early days of great chemists are 

 not uncommon. It is related in the case of Scheele that, when he was 

 apprenticed to an apothecary, he once had a great explosion, in con- 

 sequence of which his landlady expelled him from the house. 



Liebig returned to his father's house in the year 1814, and read for 

 six months in order to prepare himself for visiting the University of 

 Bonn. He there listened to the lectures on theoretical chemistry of 

 the well-known Prof. Kastner, and he also studied the other natural 

 sciences and some languages, and, what is very characteristic of his 

 great genius and perseverance, he formed a society among the stu- 

 dents for the purpose of teaching one another, and for discussing sub- 

 jects connected with chemistry and physics. Kastner being called to 

 Erlangen, Liebig followed him there, and we are told that there he 

 read all the new chemical publications, established another students' 

 society for the same object as the first, and made many friends among 

 the students, of whom several continued that friendship up to their 

 death. Thus the celebrated poet, Count Platen, corresponded with 

 him to the time of his death in 1830, and of this friendship we can see 

 many congenial influences in the writings of Liebig, for there is no 

 doubt that, in his " Familiar Letters on Chemistry," the language, 

 although always prose, frequently rises to the highest beauty, such as 

 can only be produced by a mind of a poetical turn. The same influ- 

 ence of the classical period of German literature you will also perceive 

 for example in the writings of Humboldt, particularly in his " Views 

 on Nature," which are therefore considered as examples of classical 

 German diction. Liebig also made the acquaintance of Bischof, the 

 botanist, and of Engelhard, later Professor of Chemistry at Nurem- 

 berg. He went in for the severe study of what at that time was called 

 philosophy, that is, he listened to the lectures on metaphysics and 

 philosophy in general, of the then great Schelling. Now, let me give 

 you the words of Liebig on that period of his life. He says : " I my- 

 self studied for some time in a university where the greatest philoso- 

 phers and metaphysicians of the century carried the studying youths 

 away to admiration and imitation. Who could at that time resist the 

 infection ? I, too, have lived and participated in this period so rich 

 in words and ideas, so poor in true knowledge and solid studies: it 

 has robbed me of two precious years of my life. I cannot describe 

 the terror and dismay which I felt when I awoke from this giddy 

 dream to consciousness. How many most gifted and talented men 



