44 



THE ALUMNI JOURNAL. 



JUSTUS KARL HASSKARL. 



On January 5, Dr. Justus Karl Hass- 

 karl, the introducer of the cinchona 

 plant into Java, died at Cleve, in Ger- 

 many, at the age of 82. Hasskarl was 

 born Dec. 6, 18 ri. at Cassel, where his 

 father, (who traced his descent to a 

 Swedish family which had settled in 

 Germany at the time of Gustavus 

 Adolphus, during the thirty years' war) 

 held an official position. During Hass- 

 karl's childhood, his father was transfer- 

 red to Bonn, and there the subject of this 

 note visited the gymnasium. Botany 

 was his favorite subject, and in 1827, 

 when his school days closed, he obtained 

 a small appointment at the botanical 

 gardens at Poppelsdorf, near Bonn. His 

 drafting into the military service in 1830 

 intercepted his botanical studies for a 

 couple of years, but as soon as he could 

 free himself he returned to the profession 

 to which his inclination drew him, and 

 found a place as manager of Weyhe's 

 Horticultural Gardens in Dusseldorf. 

 Hasskarl conducted a bontanical class in 

 connection with the establishment, but it 

 * would seem that his employer refused to 

 allow him to teach any but the most ele- 

 mentary principles of the science, and that 

 as a result of differences on this point, Hass- 

 karl was dismissed in 1834. In the mean- 

 time a paper of his on Cunnighamia had 

 attracted some attention in scientific 

 circles, and means were found to enable the 

 young man to return to Bonn and finish 

 his training at the University, where in 

 addition to botany he studied medicine. 

 During that time he contributed several 

 papers to the Regensburger Flora, and 

 received the high distinction of being ap- 

 pointed to the Regensburg Botanical 

 Society. In the following year Hass- 

 karl was thrown into contact with Pro- 

 fessor Goldfuss, the geologist, who made 

 him his contemporary assistant at the 



Natural History Museum. A wealthy 

 Rotterdam ship owner who visited the 

 museum, and appeared to have had a cer- 

 tain ambition of figuring as a Maecenas 

 in a cheap way, offered to provide Hass- 

 karl, who was longing for a chance of 

 botanical work in the tropics, with a free 

 passage to Java in one of his ships. The 

 offer was eagerly accepted, and in 1836- 

 he sailed for Java. The journey took 210 

 days, and the young man arrived at his 

 destination practically penniless. For- 

 tunately he attracted the attention of a 

 compatriot. Dr. Fritze, chief of the 

 Dutch-Indian Medical Service, who 

 found him a berth at the Buitenzorg 

 Botanical Gardens, not so famous then as 

 they have since become. For nine years 

 Hasskarl held that appointment. During 

 this time he introduced a systematic ar- 

 rangement of the collections at Buiten- 

 zorg and prepared the first catalogue of 

 the gardens. 



In 1846, he returned to Europe and 

 established himself at Diisseldorf, earn- 

 ing his living by casual journalistic 

 work, translations of jjcientific books 

 into German and Original work. In 

 about 1848, the Dutch Government 

 decided to send an expedition to South 

 America, for the purpose of collecting 

 Cinchona seeds and plants. The com- 

 mand was ofi'ered to Dr. Junghuhn, also 

 a German bontanist, who had done ex- 

 cellent work in the Dutch Indies, where 

 he appears to have made Hasskarl's ac- 

 quaintance. Junghuhn, after long con- 

 sideration, declined the post, and recom- 

 mended Hasskarl, who accepted imme- 

 diately, and left Holland in 1852. 



Hasskarl was instructed by M. Pahud, 

 the Dutch Minister of the Colonies, not 

 to confine himself to the collection of 

 Cinchona Calisaya (then looked upon as 

 the most valuable species), but to gather 

 plants and seeds of as many varieties as 

 possible. Early in 1853, Hasskarl set 



