178 ALEXANDER VON HUMBOLDT. 



objective scientific knowledge. He was one of those scrupulous 

 empirics who observe and collate nothing but facts, and who, 

 rejecting all bold hypotheses, confine themselves exclusively to 

 the realm of experience. He was, according to Schiller's severe 

 criticism, the impersonation of ' keen cold reason, which would 

 have all nature shamelessly exposed to scrutiny,' 'with no 

 power of imagination, no tender sympathy, no sentimental 

 interest.' That, however, he could rise from the bare facts of 

 observation to a highly poetic representation of nature, is 

 evident from the ' Aspects of Nature,' from many descriptions 

 in his ' Travels in America,' and from isolated passages in 

 e Cosmos.' 



Both he and Groethe were familiar with all branches of 

 natural philosophy ; they held in common the intimate con- 

 nection of the sciences, and, above all, the unity of nature 

 displayed in the constitution of the universe. 



In reviewing Humboldt's intercourse with Schiller, man 

 points of mutual interest might be looked for from the atten- 

 tion early bestowed by the poet to the study of medicine. 

 There is, however, but little known of Schiller's achievements in 

 the medical art, and the little that is known is not much to his 

 credit, for his practice seems to have been distinguished more 

 by boldness than by success. Although in the pursuit of 

 medicine Schiller met with no encouragement and but little 

 gratification of his natural tastes, yet during his early profes- 

 sional studies he had devoted himself by preference to the con- 

 sideration of the severest problems in physiology. When only 

 eighteen years of age, he selected as a subject for a theme 

 'The Philosophy of Physiology,' and in contending for his 

 degree in 1780 he wrote and defended a thesis 'On the Con- 

 nection between the Animal and Intellectual Nature of Man.' 

 He ever retained a sympathetic interest in the study of natural 

 philosophy and physics, and upon taking up his residence at 

 Jena, was gratified at the prospect of living under the same 

 roof with Gottling, professor of chemistry, and of assisting him 

 in his experiments. 



This taste for medical science must have been revived and 

 strengthened by his personal intercourse with Alexander von 

 Humboldt, who was often his guest for days together. In the 



