2>4 



NA TURE 



\Jan. 17, 1878 



His first anatomical instruction was obtained at Bale* 

 and was continued during five years, after which Haller 

 returned to his native country, where an active medical 

 practice did not hinder him from ever and ever reading to 

 increase the field of his already vast knowledge. He read 

 at table, in journeying on foot or on horseback, during his 

 visits and consultations, which made those shake their 

 heads who could not understand his marvellous clearness 

 of perception. 



His botanical labours were then very extensive, and 

 brought him his first encouragement from abroad. In 

 December, 1733, the Royal Academy of Sciences of 

 Upsala received him among the number of its members, 

 and proposals were made to him to become a professor 

 there. At Berne his success was not easy; in 1734 he 

 obtained the modest position of librarian. This was the 

 epoch when, while carrying on his work as a practitioner, 

 he gave himself especially to poetic composition, but 

 which came to an end in 1736. 



It was at this time be received a call frotn the newly- 

 founded University of Gottingen, to go there as Professor* 

 of Anatomy and Botany. This call was accepted, and 

 although it was for him the occasion of a great grief, in 

 the death of his wife soon after their arrival, he displayed 

 in this new centre a remarkable activity and capacity. 

 His desire and his plans for the foundation of an ana- 

 tomical theatre were soon realised. Measures were taken 

 that subjects should not be wanting for dissection ; and at 

 the same time conformably to his proposals, a botanical 

 garden was created which soon became one of the most 

 important in Germany. He was the soul of his faculty 

 and of the entire university, and his reputation caused 

 students to flock to Gottingen from all countries, whom 

 he encouraged in every way, prescribing to them various 

 works in connection with his own and for the prompt 

 development of the physiological sciences. He founded at 

 Gottingen the Royal Academy of Sciences, of which he 

 was appointed president, a position he retained to the 

 end of his life, notwithstanding his return to his own 

 country. 



It was at this time he published his commentaries on 

 the work of Boerhaave, when he commenced his " Ele- 

 menta Physiologiae," his " Anatomical Plates," his " Flora 

 of Switzerland," and other works. In 1749 ^^ King of 

 England appointed Haller his private physician, and con- 

 firmed the titles of nobility which had been conferred on 

 him by the Emperor Francis I. The Royal Society of 

 London, the Academy of Stockholm, those of Berlin and 

 Bologna, enrolled him on their lists of members. Fred- 

 erick the Great of Prussia attempted to get him to Berlin, 

 but Haller would only leave Gottingen to return to Berne, 

 and he decided to do so in 1753. His zeal for public 

 affairs caused him to accept in his native country official 

 functions in which his aptitudes of every kind found their 

 application. Appointed Bailiff of the district of Aigle, 

 near the eastern extremity of the Lake of Geneva, he 

 explored and worked the sources of salt ; at Berne he 

 contributed to the creation of an orphanage and a large 

 hospital, upon which he inscribed the beautiful device, 

 "Christo in pauperibus." In 1754 he received from the 

 French Institute the great distinction of being nominated 

 one of its foreign associates ; of the eight then existing, 

 three were Swiss— Jean Bernoulli, Euler, and Haller. He 

 regretted that his administrative occupations absorbed 

 much of the time he would have wished to devote to 

 science ; and yet even during this period of his life his 

 productiveness was enormous. Besides a large number 

 of monographs and dissertations on subjects in the 

 domains of botany, medicine, anatomy, and physiology, 

 he published more extensive works, such as: Two parts 

 of anatomical plates in folio, a quarto volume of surgical 

 dissertations, four volumes " Disputationes practice se- 

 lectse," and six volumes of his " Elementa Physiologiae 

 Corporis hu nani." He occupied himself more especially 



with the anatomy of the eye, the formation of the bones, 

 and the comparison of the brains of birds and fishes. He 

 was chiefly original in his experiments on the move- 

 ment of the blood, in his researches on the development 

 of the chicken in the egg, and on that of the foetus of 

 quadrupeds, as well as in his teratological studies. 



In his physiology he introduced the dominant idea, 

 which was his principal discovery, of irritability consi- 

 dered as a force peculiar to muscular fibre, independent 

 of sensibility properly so called, and differently distri- 

 buted. In his hands this force became a new law, with 

 which he connected nearly all the animal functions. He 

 can only be blamed, perhaps, for having distinguished it 

 too absolutely and in too decided a manner from the 

 nervous force on which it always depends. As to genera- 

 tion, Haller maintained the doctrine of the pre-existence 

 of germs, and he gave it the most solid support in his 

 studies on the fcetal development. Not knowing the 

 chemical action of the air on the blood he was unable to 

 understand the exact idea of respiration. 



All his writings show immense erudition, the fruit of 

 his extensive reading, with the assistance of a prodigious 

 memory. In four Bibliothecae," published under his 

 auspices at Berne, Zurich, and Bale, he spoke of 52,000 

 different scientific works or treatises all known by him 

 and annotated by his hand to make known the text, the 

 sources, and the authors. 



A similar erudition rendered him eminently apt at 

 bibliographical work. Thus we have from him in his 

 " Methcdus Smdii Medici" of Boerhaave a classification 

 of works, in which their degree of merit is distinguished 

 by one, two, or three asterisks. But few living authors 

 were content with the number of asterisks which he 

 accorded to their works, and this attempt made him 

 numerous enemies. He had collected for his use about 

 20,000 volumes, which were bought after his death by 

 the Emperor Joseph II. and given to the University of 

 Paris. 



On many occasions attempts were made to bring Haller 

 back to Gottingen. In 1770 King George III. person- 

 ally made overtures for this purpose ; but the republic of 

 Berne valued too highly his presence to consent to a new 

 departure. The Council, while assuring the king of its 

 friendship and its desire to please him, was opposed to 

 this departure, not being able to be deprived of a man so 

 necessary to the public weal in a place for life created 

 expressly for him, and in view of the general service of 

 the state. The passionate love which he had for his 

 country made him respond in the most efficacious and 

 the most varied manner to the hopes which his fellow- 

 citizens had placed in his activity, more especially in the 

 great start which agriculture took in his time and under 

 his influence. 



However, in the midst of so many matters, for which 

 Haller was always of easy access, his health was constantly 

 delicate. With advancing age many infirmities presented 

 themselves which wculd have arrested a man of less 

 energy, and which led to very painful crises. Gout and 

 insomnia tormented him more and more, and he did not 

 conceal from himself that the use of opium, by means of 

 which he combated them, had serious drawbacks. One 

 of his friends advising to change the regime, he replied in 

 Italian : — 



" Sono venti tre ore e mezza." 



Haller died December 12, 1777, in his seventieth year, 

 observing till the last moment the ebbing of his life, and 

 indicating at last by a sign the moment when his pulse 

 stopped. But he saw the approach of death with the 

 calmness of a confirmed Christian, having all his life pre- 

 served a sincere faith, without fearing more than Newton, 

 Euler, or Linnd, that that faith could be contradicted or 

 compromised by the scientific researches which he had 

 pursued with a zeal which has scarcely been surpassed. 



E. G, 



