20 Professor Burdon Sanderson [Jan. 24, 



all were full of tlie same enthusiasm. As Ludwig said when 

 speaking of this visit : " We four imagined that we should constitute 

 Physiology on a chemico-physic foundation, and give it equal scientific 

 rank with Physics ; but the task turned out to be much more difficult 

 than we anticipated." These three young men, who were devoted 

 disciples of the great Anatomist, had the advantage over their 

 master in the better insight which their training had given them 

 into the fundamental principles of scientific research. They had 

 already gathered around themselves a so-called " physical " school of 

 Physiology, and welcomed Ludwig on his arrival from Marburg as 

 one who had of his own initiative, undertaken in his own Univer- 

 sity das BefreiungswerJc aus dem Vitalismus. 



The determination to refer all vital phenomena to their physical 

 or chemical CDunterparts or analogues, which, as I have said, was 

 the dominant motive in Lud wig's character, was combined with 

 another quality of mind which, if not equally influential, was even 

 more obviously displayed in his mode of thinking and working. His 

 first aim, even before he sought for any explanation of a structure 

 or of a process, was to possess himself, by all means of observation 

 at his disposal, of a complete objective conception of all its relations. 

 He regarded the faculty of vivid sensual realisation (lehendige 

 sinnliche Anschauung) as of special value to the investigator of 

 natural phenomena, and did his best to cultivate it in those who 

 worked with him in the laboratory. In himself, this objective 

 tendency (if I may be permitted the use of a word which, if not 

 correct, seems to express what I mean) might be regarded as almost 

 a defect, for it made him indisposed to appreciate any sort of 

 knowledge which deals with the abstract. He had a disinclination 

 to philosophical speculation which almost amounted to aversion, and, 

 perhaps for a similar reason, avoided the use of mathematical 

 methods even in the discussion of scientific questions which ad- 

 mitted of being treated mathematically — contrasting in this respect 

 with his friend du Bois-Reymond, resembling Brticke. But as a 

 teacher the quaMty was of immense use to him. His power of vivid 

 realisation was the substratum of that many-sidedness which made 

 him, irrespectively of his scientific attainments, so attractive a 

 personality. 



I am not sure that it can be generally stated that a keen scientific 

 observer is able to appreciate the artistic aspects of Nature. In 

 Ludwig's case, however, there is reason to think that the aesthetic 

 faculty was as developed as the power of scientific insight. He 

 was a skilful draughtsman, but not a musician ; both arts were 

 however a source of enjoyment to him. He was a regular frequenter 

 of the Gewandhaus concerts, and it was his greatest pleasure to bring 

 together gifted musicians in his house, where he played the part of 

 an intelligent and appreciative listener. Of painting he knew more 

 than of music, and was a connoisseur whose opinion carried weight. 

 It is related that he was so worried by what he considered bad art, 



