LIEBIG 



1803-1873 



ERMANY'S great chemist was born at Darmstadt 

 on 12th May 1803, the year that the Electorate of 

 Hanover was seized and occupied by the army of Napo- 

 leon, and the violation of German territory by the seizure 

 of the Due d'Enghein at Ettenheim, and his subsequent 

 execution. 



Leibig's natural aptitude for experiments suggested 

 the idea that he would be suitable for an apothecary ; 

 consequently, his father selected this as the profession 

 for his son. He did not, however, long continue this 

 work, and was sent to the University of Bonn, and entered 

 as a student of medicine. He left Bonn, and graduated 

 at Erlangen University at the age of eighteen. In Liebig's 

 student days the German professors, unlike teachers in 

 this country, enjoyed a perfect " Lehrfreiheit " (freedom 

 in teaching), by which is meant the liberty of choosing 

 the subjects which they treat in their lectures, and of 

 expressing their views upon them freely. German pro- 

 fessors used to read their lectures (some few delivered 



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