84 ABSOLUTE ATOMIC WEIGHT. 



E. How I Learnt the Name Berzelius. 



Early in the summer of 1853 I came to Copenhagen. I 

 had never been away from home ; my health would not have 

 permitted, if means had allowed. 



I had just passed my examinations for admission in the 

 halls of the university, together with many other young 

 men, who had enjoyed the advantages of higher schools for 

 many years. I had for one year been the happy possessor 

 of a couple of Danish works on Elementary Mathematics 

 and a Danish grammar and a dictionary to learn both the 

 language and the science without a master. 



After Professor Ramus had examined me in mathematics, 

 one of the older hands whispered to me: "you did very 

 well." I asked, "how can you tell ?" when he called my 

 attention to the significant fact, that the Professor had kept 

 one of his boots on, entirely undisturbed, and got the other 

 one much less than half off. This was a sure sign of " very 

 good." 



Professor Ramus was a most excellent teacher of mathe- 

 matics; I enjoyed his lectures, though his free use of the 

 sponge in the left and the chalk in the right hand was 

 greatly bewildering to the bulk of the class in the reduction 

 and transformation of formulae. I was just enraptured. 



During the summer the scourge of cholera developed in 

 Copenhagen, finding several victims in the families I was 

 staying with. 



One day, in June, I was invited to take dinner at the 

 home of the director of the Polytechnic School, Professor 

 Forchhammer, in the University Building on Norregade and 

 facing the Petrikirke. 



During the dinner, a magnificent portrait on the wall 

 back of the Professor and to my right hand, attracted my 

 very special attention, so as to finally lead me to inquire 

 whom it represented. 



Almost reverentially Professor Forchhammer answered : 

 " That is a portrait of the greatest chemist of the world, of 

 " Berzelius." 



