326 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE VETERINARY SCHOOLS. 



Gerlacli was said to be a verj one-sided man by those who felt 

 the power of his opposition ; but this was only true in so far as it 

 had reference to a man who was bending everything for the suc- 

 cess of an ideal object. He was an idealist of the truest type. His 

 entire character is expressed in the saying, " Be sure you are right, 

 then go ahead." He was a hard and exact student of his position 

 and responsibilities, and tried his best to fulfill them. He was not 

 generous, as the world calls it, to the opinions of others. In per- 

 sons occupying such positions, generosity, which in general soci- 

 ety becomes a virtue, is nothing but a weakness. Gerlach was ex- 

 ternally cold and autocratic, with the handsomest and cleanest-cut 

 face I ever saw ; but behind all this coldness was a heart warm and 

 generous, which went out to the hard-working student with almost 

 a mother's love. He paid but little attention to the opinions of 

 others, seldom consulted with the other professors, but, like a king 

 among men and like a Prussian as he was, ruled the school with an 

 iron hand so far as his powers would permit, l^aturally, men lack- 

 ing ambition, in whom the sparks of science found no fitting mate- 

 rial to ignite, felt ill at ease with such a man, and he felt discon- 

 tented with them ; hence, during his whole administration of the 

 school there was a healthy excitement kept up between these two 

 opposing forces. But, had Gerlach lived ten years longer, there is 

 no doubt who would have won. He died at sixty-six years of age, 

 at Berlin, August 29, 1877, of cancer of the stomach. 



Gerlach died ten years too soon. At present, at the Berlin school, 

 the practical education bears no proper relation to the scientific. 

 The teachers are too bitterly opj)osed to one another, the one set 

 being purely scientific, the other representing the scholastic-empiric 

 school of which Feser speaks, which ruled absolutely until after the 

 middle of the century. The German Government showed itself 

 unequal to the occasion when Gerlach died. The manner of ap- 

 pointing professors, so far as the veterinary school is concerned, is 

 not so jus<- or good in Germany as in France. It is based too much 

 upon literary reputation, without taking into consideration that 

 ability to teach well, which is as necessary as extensive knowledge. 

 Another great evil in Germany, which all countries share more or 

 less, is fear of a young man. Other things being equal, the expe- 

 riences of years have value, but men of genius often gain more ex- 

 perience in a few years than the average man does in a lifetime. 

 The moment a man ceases to be progressive he is of little use to the 

 world. In appointing a new director at the school, there was fully 

 as much political wire-pulling as is exercised by candidates for mayor 



