Biographical Memoir of' the late Friedrich Hoffmann. 5 



for zoology seemed to be awakened ; but at Gottingen both these 

 branches of knowledge began to be subordinate to a more gene- 

 ral object of interest. He acquired his first ideas of mineralogy 

 and geognosy from the lectures of Hausmann. The magnificent 

 views of the history of the planet we inhabit, which geognosy at 

 that time had partly unfolded, and partly only gave promise of 

 revealing, thenceforward completely occupied the active mind 

 of Hoffmann ; he directed all his scientific investigations to 

 these geognostical views, and his interest in them was never af- 

 terwards weakened. An interruption of the academical lectures 

 in the summer of 1818, caused by disturbances, was much 

 more favourable than the contrary to this change of the nature 

 of his pursuits, for it afforded him leisure to seek out in Nature 

 herself, as displayed in the Hartz, spontaneous proofs in favour 

 of the instructions he had received, or reasons for doubting 

 their accuracy. Hoffmann devoted the succeeding winter ses- 

 sion chiefly to the formal completion of his medical studies, in- 

 cluding his examination. 



In the beginning of April 1819, when, in high spirits, and fluc- 

 tuating between several plans for the future, he returned to his 

 paternal home, he unexpectedly found the family in the deepest 

 distress. His beloved mother had been buried the preceding day, 

 and he had not even heard of her illness, so sudden had been 

 the passage from apparently perfect health to the grave. This 

 melancholy event decided him to remain for the present in 

 Berlin, in order to console his bereaved and afflicted father. 

 He found there much assistance to his studies in the public 

 establishments, in intercourse with young friends who had a 

 similar bias to the natural sciences, and in the free and unfet- 

 tered leisure which he employed in beginning the regular study 

 of mineralogy, under the guidance of the celebrated Professor 

 Weiss. Anxiously striving to attain above every thing clear- 

 ness in his ideas, and accuracy in his knowledge, he was by no 

 means satisfied merely with the conclusions deduced by others, 

 or with the examination of the specimens collected by others ; 

 he eagerly grasped every opportunity of making observations 

 and discoveries for himself; and he did his utmost to obtain 

 possession of the auxiliaries for his investigations, in order that 

 he might not only make use of them, but also destroy them, if 



