14 



his low state of mind is the expression in his letter, "as little as I was 

 worried about it beforehand, as little am I happy now that it is over". 



A few months afterwards Beijerinck became a teacher at the 

 "Hoogere Burgerschool" in Utrecht. He would have preferred 

 to teach at the "Hoogere Burgerschool" in Amsterdam, whence HuGO 

 DE Vries had just resigned, but a kind of diffidence kept him from 

 applying. In the old cathedral town of Utrecht, he took rooms above 

 the Swiss shop, and had the great advantage of again coming into 

 touch with his friend van 't Hoff, who was then an assistant in 

 chemistry at the Veterinary School i). They of ten had dinner to- 

 gether. Beijerinck had about 100 pupils who not seldom gave him 

 trouble; some of them he had to send out of the class-room as a 

 disciplinary measure. Though in later years, Beijerinck liked teach- 

 ing, he took little pleasure in it at this period. He endured a lonely life, 

 since, owing to his self-sufficient nature, he did not seek company. It 

 is remarkable that his brother Frederik, who likewise was very 

 intelligent, was totally different in this respect. Yet, Beijerinck was 

 not quite so forlorn as it might seem. His sisters and father were very 

 fond of him, were proud of their clever brother and son, and helped 

 him as much as they could. They sent him extra provisions, and even 

 drinking-water, from Eist (!), because he imagined that the "bad" 

 drinking-water at Utrecht had affected his health. They also sent him 

 on his request various plant-galls. In October 1875 he decided to take 

 these teratological formations as the subject of his doctorate thesis. 



In the summer of 1876 Beijerinck developed an inflammation of a 

 rib and became seriously ill2). His friend van 't Hoef nursed him 

 carefuUy and regularly wrote to Eist, from where his father came to 

 see him from time to time. During his illness he received the news of 

 his appointment as teacher at the Agricultural High School in Wage- 

 ningen at a salary of ƒ 1800.— a year. Beijerinck was very pleased 

 with it, for now he could exclusively teach his favourite subject, 

 botany. In the autumn, when he had recovered, he entered upon his 

 duties at Wageningen. 



At that time Jongkindt Koninck was Director of the Agricultural 

 High School; the pupils were farmers' sons and rich young men, many 

 of whom had not distinguished themselves at other schools. The 

 majority were boarders. 



In the beginning of 1877 Beijerinck's first important paper, written 

 in Utrecht and entitled "Ueber Pflanzengallen", was published in the 

 "Botanische Zeitung". It was rather severely criticized by Snellen 

 van Vollenhoven, and the criticism greatly disheartened Beije- 



i) According to a personal communication by Professor Beijerinck, van 't Hoff 

 was highly indignant with the Emperor of Brazil who — when visiting this school — 

 took him for an amanuensis. 



2) It does not seem unlikely that this was an unrecognized case of typhoid fever 

 which Beijerinck may well have contracted from the water of the rural supply of 

 Eist ! . 



