HEINRICH WILHELM DOVE. 383 



FOREIGN HONORARY MEMBERS. 



HEINRICH WILHELM DOVE* 



Heinrich Wilhelm: Dove, who has been a foreign honorary 

 member of this Academy since Nov. 14, 185'J, was born in Liegnitz, 

 Silesia, on the 6th of October, 1803, and died in Berlin on the 4th of 

 April, 1879. lie was the youngest child of a prosperous merchant 

 who had been twice married. Of this large family, only two, own 

 sisters of Heinrich, lived to an advanced age. While young Dove 

 was still in his childhood, his father suffered serious reverses from the 

 depression of business and the crushing taxes produced by the wars 

 of Napoleon the First. His mother, left a widow in 1810, continued 

 the business of his father, and made great exertions and sacrifices in 

 order to give a good education to her children. Dove was diligent 

 and successful in Ids studies, and at the age of twelve he was sent to 

 the Ritter Academy. Here he so distinguished himself, especially in 

 mathematics, as to be called by his companions the Little Profes- 

 sor. At the age of seventeen he was prepared for the University. 

 Cradled in one of the stormiest periods of European history, Dove 

 had passed his childhood and youth within sight or sound of stirring 

 events, the memory of which never faded from his mind. The years 

 1813-15 particularly, and the retreat of Jahn after the battle of 

 Katzbach, produced a profound impression upon him. In later life 

 he indulged in reminiscences of his youth : telling the story of his 

 being compelled to eat before the French grenadiers, because they 

 were afraid of being poisoned. 



At Easter of the year 1821, Dove entered the University of Bres- 

 lau, where he passed six semesters, devoting himself at first to philo- 

 logical studies. But he soon came under the influence of Brandes, 

 the Professor of Mathematics at Breslau from 1811 to 1826. His 

 lectures on mathematics, astronomy, physics, and meteorology at- 

 tracted many students by their substance and the happy manner of 

 its presentation. When Dove entered the University, Brandes had 

 just published his Beitrcige zur Witterungskunde, and had recom- 

 mended meteorological observations. AVhile students at Gottingen, 

 Brandes and Benzeuberg had determined, by parallax, the distances 



* The death of Dove, although reported last year, took place so near the 

 time of the Annual Meeting that this notice was necessarily deferred until the 

 present Report. 



