370 MEMOIR OF LEOPOLD VON BUCH. 



The necessity of peaceful labor, and, therefore, of silence, had induced him to 

 limit his personal retinue to unity, and when age had relaxed the activity of 

 this one faithful domestic. Von Buch, like Leibnitz, had his food brought to him 

 from without. Often his door was opened by himself. If the stranger Avas 

 one whose presence seemed likely to be importunate, to the question, " Is M. 

 Von Buch at home ?" he would quietly reply, " No ;" and, closing the door, re- 

 turn to his occupations. The young princes of the royal family were some- 

 times among those Avho hazarded the experiment, and their admission was due 

 not so much to their rank as to the affectionate relations which existed between 

 Von Buch and his sovereign, who, among other marks of his favor, had made 

 him one of his chamberlains — a chamberlain, it must be confessed, of very 

 slender assiduity in his office. If the interruption was occasioned by the ar- 

 rival of a savant, on the very threshold, and without waiting to bid good day, 

 he would encounter the visitor with some such question as this : " Is the semi- 

 hi-lohatc divided ammonite found also in Thuriugia ?" 



An unappeasable curiosity had directed our geologists' inquiries to that part 

 also of the terrestrial envelope which is traceable to the action of water, and 

 which paleontology had recently occupied in its search for the remains of ex- 

 tinct races. 



Since life appeared on the globe, it has undergone many vicissitudes and 

 clothed itself with many forms ; different species have succeeded one another, 

 and as each has surrendered its spoils to the cotemporary strata, these relics 

 determine the relative age of the deposits, and the history of life serves to il- 

 lustrate and complete the history of the globe. Von Buch, after Buffon, aptly 

 compares fossil shells to medals, and adds, in terms of his own, that these 

 medals also have their language. In a series of memoirs on the ammonites, the 

 terchrat'eda, the productus, &c., he has taught us the means of interpreting that 

 language; the new and difficult ai't of distinguishing with certainty the species 

 which identify the several strata, by characters on which he had bestowed the 

 most earnest and profound study. Nor were his efforts for restoring the ancient 

 annals of the world limited to shells; to fossil botany he brought the same aid, 

 a precise determination of characters, which he had conferred on fossil geology; 

 80 that the expressive epithet which he gave to certain fossil shells and leaves, 

 calling them guiding ones {eonductrices), might well be transferred to himself. 

 He has truly proved, in these delicate investigations, a guide to other geolo- 

 gists. 



But to be an intellectual guide did not alone suffice for this good and emi- 

 nent man. Wherever he could discover young persons whose success seemed 

 only trammelled by the rigors of fortune, he was sure to interpose ; and, as if to 

 compensate for the modesty of his own wants, he acted on those occasions with 

 a regal munificence. Such instances were numerous and were seldom made 

 public. 



Towards a vessel ready to sail, a young savant was one day directing his 

 steps ; his baggage was light, though he had divested himself of his patri- 

 mony to procure the means of pursuing his explorations in America. By the 

 wayside a stranger is Availing for him, and says : " A friend, impelled by a de- 

 sire to promote the progress of science, begs you to employ this in its service;" 

 he places a purse in the hands of the traveller, and disappears. Being once 

 at Bonn, Von Buch received a visit from a youthful professor of that uniA^er- 

 eity, Avho desired letters of recommendation, as he Avas about to join a scien- 

 tific expedition. Return to-morroAv, replied the distinguished savant. The 

 interval is employed in seeking information. At the hour prescribed, the young 

 man presents himself, the letters are ready, they converse ; Von Buch becomes 

 animated, affectionate, gives advice, and finally says to the visitor at taking 

 leave : " I have a serAice to ask of you." " Compliance Avill give me plea- 

 sure," is the prompt response. " Yes, yes," cries Von Buch, " they all say the 



