180 



THE AQUARIUM, JULY, 1895. 



lection, having been shipped to Berlin 

 at intervals as collected, filled 114 boxes, 

 each of 20 to 30 cubic feet. Besides these 

 specimens Ehrenberg brought his and 

 Hemprich's diaries and many thousands 

 of excellent sketches, nearly all in colors, 

 Ehrenberg being a fine artist. All 

 these were added to the royal museums 

 in Berlin. On his return to Euroj^e 

 Ehrenberg found himself a well-known 

 man ; in fact, famous. 



He was liberally rewarded by his Gov- 

 ernment with honors and a nice round 

 sum of solid cash. Besides this, he 

 was installed as professor of medical 

 science at the Royal University of 

 Berlin, which chair he held until his 

 death. 



After a well-deserved rest of about 

 two years, during which his broken- 

 down constitution had been restored, 

 Ehrenberg accepted an oft'er from Alex. 

 von Humboldt to accompany him on a 

 voyage through Asiatic Russia. In April, 

 1829, they started from Berlin. Their 

 trip extended through the Ural Mount- 

 ains and Siberia to the borders of 

 China. This trip was just the contrary 

 to that experienced by Ehrenberg in 

 Africa. The famous German scientists 

 were supplied by the Russian Govern- 

 ment with all the conveniences the 

 Czar could think of. Heavily laden 

 with specimens belonging to the differ- 

 ent kingdoms, among which were about 

 1,000 species of plants and many valu- 

 able minerals, the travelers returned to 

 Berlin after an absence of about a year. 



Ehrenberg was a member or honorary 

 member of seventy scientific associa- 

 tions, located all over the globe. He was 

 distinguished with the highest order 

 his king could bestow upon him; many 

 foreign rulers also decorated him; 

 learned societies awarded him high 

 medals, and the University of Oxford 



made him a Master of Arts in the 

 presence of the Queen, Ehrenberg hav- 

 ing been seated next to the throne on 

 this occasion. 



After the death of his friend, the 

 famous Humboldt, the Academic de 

 France elected Ehrenberg in the 

 former's place. About 1859, the King 

 of Prussia had a picture painted of 

 Ehrenberg, which now hangs in th& 

 Hohenzollern Gallery and from which 

 the one in our illustration has been 

 copied. But Ehrenberg has been 

 honored in other ways yet : twenty- 

 four animals, fifty-six plants, one 

 mineral (Ehrenbergite), a group of 

 islands, a mountain and a cape having 

 been named in his honor. 



In 1865, the eyes that had worked so- 

 much gave out ; a cataract had formed 

 and Ehrenberg became totally blind. 

 For two years he was unable to see any- 

 thing. A successful operation performed 

 by the famous oculist Dr Graefe, at his- 

 clinic, restored the sight. He could 

 again see his family and friends. He 

 used his eyes again in connection with 

 the microscope, but very cautiously ; 

 his youngest daughter, being his as- 

 sistant, attended to the most straining- 

 part of the work. 



Ehrenberg was the type of a German 

 scientist : seemingly slow, but thorough. 

 Aside from the thousand and one new 

 discoveries which he has made in the 

 different branches of science, among 

 which were some of great importance, 

 he has written and published a great 

 deal and his collection of microscope 

 slides numbered 39,000 analyses of ani- 

 mals, 1,000 geological sections, 1,000 

 of infusoria^. All of these are properly 

 named, classified and catalogued. Be- 

 sides these, he left illustrations by his 

 own hand numbering many thousand 

 sheets, some of them containing fronx 



