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SOME ACCOUNT OF PROFESSOR BLUMENBACH. 



The following particulars relative to the great lion of Gottingen, are extracted 

 from a communication in the Medical Gazette, and will, doubtless, prove in- 

 teresting to our readers : — i 



The great lion of this university (Gottingen) is Blumenbach, Professor of 

 Natural History, by whom I was most graciously received, though without any 

 formal introduction : yet I have heard he is not always so courteous. He speaks 

 English fluently, — in fact he is the only professor who appeared to have any 

 knowledge of the language, which surprised me much, considering the intimate 

 connection that exists between Hanover and our own country. The venerable 

 Professor, though he has reached his eighty-second year, still retains all his 

 faculties perfect. He spoke of the kindness of George III. during his visit to 

 England, forty years since, at which period he also went to Oxford. One of his 

 apartments is fitted up as a museum ; it is by no means large, but contains 

 rather an odd medley of preparations, and a numerous collection of skulls of 

 negro tribes, as well as specimens explanatory of Comparative Anatomy. He 

 called my attention more particularly to a tattooed head of a New Zealand chief, 

 which was presented to him by the Duke of Northumberland, and on which he 

 appeared to set a very high value. 



His lecture commences every day, except Saturday, at three ; his class did not 

 exceed forty. He stoops considerably, usually wore a shaggy great coat, with a 

 small green velvet cap on his head, his hair hanging in long silvery locks. He 

 was particularly fond of laughing at his own jokes and anecdotes, which he 

 mentioned during his lecture, sometimes raising his voice to a stentorian pitch, 

 whilst at others it could scarcely be heard. He could read his notes without the 

 assistance of spectacles, and often explained his subject in terms not quite adapted 

 to " ears polite ;'' expressing his astonishment or admiration at the wonders of 

 Nature in no measured language — making use of a phrase which, though of very 

 unusual occurrence among us, still is very common among the Germans, — that of 

 " Herr Jesus," which is, however, only an expletive, and occupies the place of 

 mon dieu of the French. He exemplified his subject with preparations either 

 dried or in spirits, as well as by plates or drawings ; some of which, from their 

 age and roughness, were very curious. 



A specimen he valued much, and which he prized above all others, was the 

 fetus of a Bear in spirits, which is very rarely seen ; and it was certainly a 

 most misshapen object of very diminutive size ; it was quite, as the old Professor 

 expressed it, an " unlicked cub." Another rather interesting specimen was a 

 young Porcupine in spirits, before the quills had commenced growing ; in which 



