BOYHOOD 9 



meeting in August, 1837, that at the Michaelmas speeches 

 Helmholtz should reply with a Latin ode to the farewell 

 oration delivered in German by one of the Abiturienten. 



While still in the second class Helmholtz announced to his 

 father that he wished to devote himself to science, but 

 when the worthy man, who had the education of four 

 children on his hands, explained that he could not afford 

 to provide him with instruction in physics unless he took 

 up the study of medicine as well, he accepted the situation 

 cheerfully. 



As early as 1835 his father applied for his admission to the 

 Royal Friedrich-Wilhelm Institute of Medicine and Surgery 

 in Berlin, which gave considerable assistance to medical 

 students, inasmuch as it guaranteed them a complete course 

 of study and means of livelihood, in return for a certain number 

 of years' service as army surgeons. 



The competition for entry to this Institute was, however, 

 too keen for it to be promised to Helmholtz's father two years 

 in advance, and the application had to be renewed when 

 Hermann had reached the first class. It was then successful, 

 and he was summoned to an examination in Berlin during the 

 Easter vacation of 1837. 



1 Dear Father/ writes the lad of sixteen, on March 30, from 

 Berlin, ' I arrived the day before yesterday in a raging snow- 

 storm. Tell mother, however, that I hardly felt the cold, 

 except in my hands, which were quite numb. Yesterday 

 morning I went to the Pepiniere at 9.30, and was called up at 

 10.30. Surgeon-General Schulz was very kind. He inquired 

 after you, tested my eyes to see if I were short-sighted, and 

 asked three of the staff-doctors to guess my height. They 

 decided that I was about four inches high (sic). He questioned 

 me about my health, admonished me to emulate my quasi- 

 ancestor Mursinna, and prove myself worthy of him, and not 

 be afraid of the examination : even if I could not answer all 

 the questions exhaustively it would not matter, as this was only 

 to be a general test of my acquirements. 



' He then gave me a note for Dr. Figulus, who was to examine 

 me. The doctor was not at home then, or an hour later, and 

 I only found him after dinner. He gave me an appointment 

 for this morning. Yesterday afternoon I went about in the 



