60 HELEN ABBOTT MICHAEL 



"The heads, of course, are such eminent men that they are 

 too busily engaged in their own researches to devote time es- 

 pecially to students. The latter are then given to the care of 

 an assistant. The assistants even show the most minute ma- 

 nipulation, and it is a quite easy matter to become thoroughly 

 conversant with chemical technique. In lookingt over the 

 university calendar for each semester, one will notice the many 

 different minor courses in schematic analysis, in spectroscopic 

 work, etc., and each small branch has its professor and sepa- 

 rate lectures. In this way it is possible to obtain an immense 

 amount of facts quickly." 



She had an interesting visit at the Botanical Garden. 



"After a trial in German speaking, I made the servant un- 

 derstand that I would speak with Professor Pfeffer. He was 

 out, and the servant could not name the hour for his return. 

 As I was leaving the building, Pfeffer appeared, and I handed 

 him Drude's card of introduction. He welcomed me kindly 

 and said that the laboratory was not as yet installed. He 

 had just come from Tubingen, where he said he had left a 

 very beautiful Botanical Institute. He hoped in about a year 

 to have a fine school here. He thought that it would be dif- 

 ficult to have permission to admit a lady-student. He had 

 just come to Leipsic and knew nothing of the rules and regu- 

 lations. . . . 



" He thought that the most difficult problems in plant phy- 

 siology were the mechanical ones involving mathematical 

 explanation and treatment." 



Professor Ernest von Meyer, to whom she presented her 

 card of introduction from Wislecenus, and Professor Stroh- 

 mann, an authority on plant-chemistry, showed great interest 

 in her work, and made her feel that she might spend some 

 months in Leipsic with great profit, since in addition there 

 were good bookstores, fine music, excellent sources of chemical 

 supplies, and admirable educational facilities including Pfef- 

 fer 's botanical garden and Dr. Gruber's chemical physio- 

 logical laboratory. Her diary has this interesting entry : 



" Oct. 20. Visited Prof. Ernest von Meyer's private labora- 

 tory. It is a private one, though Prof. Meyer is one of the 



