8 Prof. K. F. H. Marx's Memoir of the Life and 



On the 28th August 1806, Blumenbach commenced his 

 journey to Paris with Martens ; and on the 20th September 

 they had an audience with the emperor. On the 30th Octo- 

 ber 1812, he proceeded as deputy of the university, in com- 

 pany Avith Sartorius, to Heiligenstadt, the head- quarters of 

 Bernadotte, afterwards king of Sweden. 



Blumenbach, in general, was little subject to indisposition. 

 In his youth he Avas delicate, and suffered much from bleeding 

 at the nose, and even spitting of blood ; but by great care and 

 regularity of life, he afterwards acquired very permanent good 

 health. He used to remark, that among many other benefits 

 which the study of natural history had conferred on him was 

 this, that he possessed the power of sleeping like a mole, and 

 had a stomach like that of an ostrich. It is true that when he 

 reached old age he was subjected to some almost constant dis- 

 agreeables ; but, upon the whole, he not only retained his 

 mental faculties in full vigour, but likewise his bodily strength. 

 After having stood extremely well the cold days of the middle 

 of January 1839, he was attacked during the succeeding mild 

 but stormy weather by a cough, which, however, again left 

 him. On the 18th January he had a severe attack of illness, 

 which, though it yielded partially to medical treatment, at last 

 terminated fatally on the 22d. 



The father of the subject of this memoir, Henry Blumenbach, 

 originally a private teacher at Leipsic, went to Gotha in 1737 

 as tutor in the family of Chancellor Von Oppel, and the year 

 after became professor in the gymnasium there. He had a 

 well-selected library, besides many engravings and maps. His 

 mother, Charlotte Eleanora Hedvig, was the daughter of the 

 Vice-Chancellor Buddeus of Gotha, and died in 1793 at the 

 age of sixty-eight. His brother died in the prime of life at 

 Gotha, and his sister was the wife of Professor Voigt. 



Among the interesting men in Gotha with Avhom he was on 

 intimate terms, was Vice-President Kliipfel, who, after 1774, 

 had taken no small charge of the Gotha Gelehrte Zeitung. 



At the age of seventeen, and on the 12th October 1769, 

 Blumenbach Avent from school to Jena, Avhere Baldinger was 

 pro-rector. In 1770 Neubauer came to Jena, and to him Blu* 

 incnbach Avas much indebted. After three years' study ther^ 



