Obituary Notices. ' 27 



thing new and rare, which you seem to find in abundance." 

 Goethe was much occupied with his doctrine of metamor- 

 phosis in phmts, and made the boy, who was frequently 

 roaming through the country, bring him deformed phmts 

 and such hke ; and the knowledge of the changes which, 

 under so distinguished a master, Koch was privileged 

 to acquire, seems to have suggested to him the special 

 theme of his after life, viz., the investigation into the 

 origin of our fruit trees. Fischer instructed him in 

 horticulture and arboriculture, but another Grand Ducal 

 gardener, Mr Mohs, in Bertuch's garden, took also a 

 fatherly charge of him, and gave him instructions in the 

 subject of fruits, which ultimately proved to have been of 

 the highest use to him. Through his intimacy with 

 Goethe he soon made the acquaintance of the Grand Duke, 

 who treated him with great kindness, frequently giving 

 him sweetmeats (for he was still but a boy), and thus a 

 link was being formed which proved of very great im- 

 portance in his future career. 



As already stated, his frequent excursions in search of 

 plants had seriously interfered with his school duties, but 

 Koch now became alive to the necessity of more diligent 

 application to study, which he prosecuted with such 

 success that he soon overcame all his previous disadvan- 

 tages, and in 1829 was able to enter the University of 

 Jena. What enabled him to make such proficiency was 

 his frequenting in "Weimar the house of the privy coun- 

 cillor Kruse, at that time inspector of the Grand Ducal 

 gardens, a family distinguished for their accomplishments, 

 and here he not only improved his manners, but also his 

 knowledge of modern languages. In Jena Koch studied 

 medicine and became intimately acquainted with Fritz 

 Keuter, the poet, one of the heads of the Burschenschaft 

 (an association of students who were ardently attached to 

 the cause of German unity, and who afterwards sufi'ered 

 much in seeking to promote that object). Koch's love of 

 nature withdrew him very much from all political excite- 

 ment. To him the forest and the field presented greater 

 attractions than all the burning questions of political 

 economy ; and though to his last day he loved the noble 

 goal at which the association aimed, yet he avoided all 



