THE 



EDINBURGH NEW 

 PHILOSOPHICAL JOURNAL. 



Biographical Memoir of the late Friedrich Hoffmann, Professor 

 of Geology in the University of Berlin, 



An acquaintance with the personal relations of an author 

 often facilitates the use of his works, especially when the facts 

 narrated as to his life have been collected with impartial dili- 

 gence, and are represented with fidelity. Scientific writings 

 more particularly, acquire much additional weight, from the con- 

 firmation they may receive from a knowledge of the life and 

 character of their author. In the case of posthumous works, 

 there is, in addition to this consideration, a wish to preserve, 

 along with the fruits of the writer's mind, recollections of the 

 natural powers and the means of cultivation by which these 

 fruits were produced. No further apology need be offered for 

 prefacing Friedrich Hoffmann's posthumous works by an ac- 

 count of some of the most important events of his short life ; 

 and it may be mentioned that the biography here given is part- 

 ly derived from an article published by a friend only twenty 

 days after his death. 



Friedrich Hoffmann was born on the 6th June 1797, on the 

 Pinnau, near Welau in East Prussia. His birth-place contained 



VOL. XXV. NO. XLIX. — JULY 1838. 



