in Personal Traits of Von Buck 149 



and welcome guest in every learned society of Europe. 

 He was not only familiar with the writings of the geologists 

 of his day, but knew the men personally, visited them in 

 their own countries, and with many of them kept up a 

 friendly and lively correspondence. He had an extensive 

 knowledge of the languages of Europe, and had read widely 

 not only in his own subjects, but in allied sciences, in 

 history, and in literature, ancient and modern. Kindly, 

 frank, outspoken, and fearless, he was beloved and 

 honoured by those who deserved his friendship, and 

 dreaded by those who did not. With tender self-sacrifice 

 he would take his blind brother every year to Carlsbad, 

 and with endless benefactions did he brighten the lives of 

 many who survived to mourn his loss. He died on 4th 

 March 1853, in the seventy-ninth year of his age. A 

 fitting monument to his memory was raised by sub- 

 scriptions from all over Europe. In the picturesque 

 region of Upper Austria, not far from Steyer, a granite 

 boulder 16 feet high that had been borne by a former glacier 

 from the Alps was chosen as his cenotaph. The stone, 

 chiselled into a flat surface, bears inscribed upon it, with 

 the reverence of admirers in Germany, Belgium, France, 

 England, and Italy, the immortal name of Leopold von 

 Buch. 1 



1 An account of the movement for the preparation of this monument 

 will be found in Das Euch-Denkmal, a pamphlet by Bitter von Hauer and 

 Dr. Homes, published in Vienna in 1858. It gives a portrait of Von 

 Buch, and a view of the monument, with a map showing the position of 

 the site. 



