MEMOIR OF HUBER. 23 



cumstances in his personal history, dwelt upon at 

 considerable length by De Candolle,* which appear so 

 well worthy the attention of our readers, that we 

 cannot forego the opportunity of detailing them, 

 though necessarily in an abridged form. His man- 

 ners were remarkably mild and amiable, as is fre- 

 quently found to be the case with those who are af- 

 flicted with blindness, and his conversation animated 

 and interesting. " When any one/' says his friend, 

 e spoke to him on subjects which interested his heart, 

 his noble figure became strikingly animated, and the 

 vivacity of his countenance seemed by a mysterious 

 magic to animate even his eyes, which had so long 

 been condemned to blindness." It appears that 

 some of his friends would gladly have persuaded him 

 to try the effect of an operation on one of his eyes, 

 which seemed to be affected only by simple cataract ; 

 but he declined the proposal, and bore not only with- 

 out complaint, but with habitual cheerfulness, his 

 sad deprivation. His marriage with Maria Aimee 

 Lullin, the daughter of a Swiss magistrate, was in a 

 high degree romantic. The attachment had begun 

 in their early youth, but was opposed by the lady's 

 father on the ground of Huber's increasing infirmity ; 

 for even then, the gradual decay of his organs of 

 vision was become but too manifest. The affection 

 and devotedness of the young lady, however, ap- 

 peared to strengthen in proportion to the helplessness 

 of their object. She declared to her parents, that 



* See Edinburgh Phil. Journal for April 1833. 



