262 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



vigorous, active life. lie was sent to the village school until he was 

 thirteen years old. Here the pupil's talents were proudly observed 

 and duly fostered by the teacher, his grandfather, who noticed es- 

 pecially the wonderful memory of the youth. 



This capability seems to have been the moving cause that prompted 

 the parents to give Baeyer the advantages of a better course of in- 

 struction. They sought to find this in the person of Gronau, the pas- 

 tor in the neighboring town, Kopenick. Here he remained three 

 years, going thence to the gymnasium in Joacbimsthal, where he en- 

 tered the fourth class. 



Before completing the course here, the breaking out of the War of 

 1813 fired him with a thirst for military experience, which he obtained 

 as a volunteer in the Third East Prussian Infantry, serving until the 

 declaration of peace in 1814. He then returned to his gymnasium 

 studies, to be again interrupted by the outbreak in 1815. The re- 

 2)eated inclinations to be a soldier were gratified by again enlisting in 

 the army, this time as an ofiicer in the Fourth Rhine militia. This 

 life had a charm for him ; so, at the close of the w' ar, he attended the 

 military school at Coblenz, and in 1821, through the intervention 

 of General von Muffling, who had become acquainted with Baeyer's 

 predilection for geodetic work, he was detailed to the general staff. 



It was at this time that Von Muffling was engaged upon the arc of 

 longitude extending from Dunkirk, the extremity of the French arc 

 of latitude, to Seeberg. In this work Baeyer assisted, especially in 

 the computations, receiving in return his chief's ardent thanks in the 

 preliminary report published in the " Astronomische Nachrichten," 

 1822, No. 27. 



The year 1822 was perhaps a pivotal year to Baeyer. Just while 

 comparing the life of a soldier with that of a scientist, at a time when 

 he had obtained a place of honor in the military service, and had also 

 been publicly thanked by a distinguished man for scientific work, he 

 met Alexander von Humboldt and Bessel. The former was planning 

 a second trip around the world for the purpose of collecting items of 

 interest, and thought that he had found in this clever, energetic ofii- 

 cer, now in his twenty-seventh year, the person to place in charge. 

 The proposition was formally made, and so seriously considered that 

 by way of preparation Baeyer attended the lectures of Weiss on 

 mineralogy and geognosy during the two following years. For cer- 

 tain reasons the plan fell short of consummation, but Humboldt's 

 friendship and example were always great incentives to his youthful 

 friend. Bessel also followed the career of Baeyer with interest, and 

 saw in later years that his talents and skill were of such character as 

 to bring them together as co-workers, assisting one another. He was 

 promoted to first lieutenant in 1823, and in the following year he was 

 one of a party that made a survey of the Suwarrow route over the 

 Alps, during which he ascertained, by means of a barometer, the alti- 



