CHAPTER IV 



THE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHER 



Only two months later a telegram arrived from the burgomaster of 

 Warffum — a small town in the province of Groningen — notifying 

 Beijerinck of his appointment as a teacher at the Agricultural School 

 there on a salary of/ 1800. — a year. Beijerinck did not at all like the 

 idea of going to Warffum, but things turned out better than he had 

 expected. The class rooms were good. For the training of 20 young 

 men from the peasantry there were 9 teachers with whom, however, 

 Beijerinxk did not always get on very well. Groningen being fairly 

 near, the post has the advantage of giving an opportunity for Univers- 

 ity studies. Here Beijerinxk had his name entered in the very same 

 year. In September 1874, however, the Agricultural School was done 

 away with for a year and to his indignation Beijerinck was dis- 

 missed on January Ist, 1875 with four weeks' notice. However, he 

 received a part-time post as a teacher at the State secondary school at 

 Warffum on a salary of ƒ 200. — , and had moreover ƒ 1000. — as half- 

 pay. 



Meanwhile his parents and sisters had gone to live at Eist in the 

 province of Gelderland, where his father in 1872 had been made 

 caretaker of the "Ingelandshuis" i). Portraits of Beijerinck, his 

 brother, and his sisters at this period are reproduced in Plate Hl. 



In 1875 the family met with the misfortune of losing the mother. 

 Martinus and his brother Frederik arrived just too late to see her 

 still alive. 



About that time Beijerinck had much trouble with his health. A 

 consultation with a medical professor did not bring any organic 

 defects to light ; all the troubles were put down to nervousness 2) . 



By the good offices of his fatherly friend F. W. van Eeden, Beije- 

 rinck next had the chance of being appointed as steward of the coun- 

 try-seat Elswoud near Haarlem on a salary of ƒ 1200. — a year, but he 

 decided to keep to scientific work, and began to prepare for the "doc- 

 toral examination", for which purpose he visited Professor Suringar 

 at Leiden. In June 1875 he wrote to his father and sisters that he had 

 been admitted to the third part of the "doctoral examination", 

 which meant that now he might take his Doctor's degree. Typical of 



1) "Landholders house". , 



2) In later life also Beijerinck was always worried about his health, and often 

 tormented himself with thoughts of imaginary diseases. 



