62 SKETCH OF THE LIFE AND ACHIEVEMENTS 



the tutor of her sons was so great that she 

 granted him almost parental rights. The 

 noble disposition of Madame de Humboldt 

 swayed beneficially the whole family circle, 

 and inspired her sons, whose progress was one 

 of the most important objects of her life, with 

 an enthusiastic love for herself. An eminent 

 personage, whose influence upon the mental 

 progress of both brothers is notable, became, 

 soon after this sad event, the friend of the 

 family, a Dr. Heim, subsequently a most 

 celebrated physician, and professor of the 

 University of Berlin. His frequent visits to 

 Tegel, probably occasioned by the illness of 

 Major von Humboldt, are of importance ; 

 because he instructed, after dinner, on each of 

 these occasions, both boys in the rudiments of 

 botany, and explained to them the twenty-four 

 classes of the Linnsean system. 



Significant is a remark of Dr. Heim about 

 this period; viz., that the elder boy, Wilhelm, 

 without difficulty apprehended the given in- 

 struction, and almost immediately remembered 

 the botanical names ; whilst Alexander, eleven 

 years old, experienced great difficulties, a 

 phenomenon which manifested itself on various 

 other occasions, and made both Madame de 

 Humboldt and the tutor, for a time, apprehen- 



