606 
Haller. studies at the age of fourteen, he was led, by his ‘ardour 
for learning, to pay a visit to Dr Newhams, an able 
physician at Bienne, whose son was one of his school 
companions. This gentleman gave him some instruc- 
tions in the Cartesian system of natural philosophy. 
That pursuit, however, did not engross his whole’ atten- 
tion. He continued to cultivate polite literature, and 
to exercise his talent in composing verses. The house 
in which he lived at Bienne having caught fire, he had 
only time to save his poems ‘before it was burnt down. 
These poems he revised in less than twelve months af- 
ter; and, reflecting on the Satirical strain in which the 
were written, he committed them to’ the flames, with’ 
the exception of a few, which were left te attest’ his’ 
oe talent, without reproaching' the goodness of his 
eart. 
After indicating talents which qualified him for mak~- 
ing a conspicuous figure in any pursuit, he embraced 
the medical profession. Towards the end of the year 
1723, he began his professional studies at Tubingen, 
under Camerarius and Duvernois, at that time celebra- 
ted teachers of anatomy and medicine. While at Tu- 
bingen, he occasionally joined in the» convivial parties 
of his fellow-students; but was on one occasion so 
werfully shocked ‘by the abandonment of reason ex- 
hibited in these indulgences, ‘that he formed a resolu- 
tion, which he kept for the' remainder of his life, to 
leave off entirely the use of wine. .As Boerhaave’s In- 
stitulions were used as a medical text-book at Tubingen, 
Haller had an opportunity of appreciating the genius 
of this author, which induced’him to repair to Leyden 
to profit by his lectures. ‘These two great men having 
met in this manner, immediately perceived each other’s 
merits. Boerhaave was then teacher of medicine and 
botany, and Albinus demonstrator of anatomy at that 
celebrated school. Both of these ‘professors ‘treated 
him with great distinction, and excited in his mind 
a powerful emulation. ‘The superb'museum of Ruysch, 
at Amsterdam, which he often ‘visited, contributed at 
this time to animate and guide‘his ‘studies. At the age 
of 19, he took the degree of ‘Doctor of Medicine at 
Leyden. The subject of his'thesis was one which‘he 
had discussed with Duvernois at Tubingen, the refu- 
tation of a position advanced by Professor Coschwitz, 
of Halle, that there were two salivary ducts'in ‘the pos- 
terior part of the tongue, which*this author claimed as 
his'discovery. Haller-shewed that these supposed ducts 
were two veins. His works contain the plates by which 
this point was elucidated. 
In 1727, he visited England; where he became in- 
timately acquainted with Sir Hans Sloane, the’President 
of the Royal Society, and Douglas'and Cheselden, two 
of its distinguished members. He also spent some time at 
Oxford. He'went next to France;where he formed 
ane acquaintance with Geoffroy, Antoine and Bernard 
de Jussieu, ‘Petit, and Ledran, and attended the: lec- 
tures of the celebrated Winslow. A‘person who'lived 
in an adjoining house having found ‘him engaged in 
private dissection, denounced him ‘to the minister. of 
police, in consequence of which he was obliged to re~ 
main for some: time in-concealment.! Dissections must 
have been conducted) in ‘that ‘city with much greater 
difficulty than they arenow. Paris has furnished for 
some time the amplest field inthe world for this mode 
of pursuing professional knowledge :- and, “however 
much some may affeet to connect: this fact ‘with the 
careless licentiousness of the French nation, it exhi- 
bits a bright contrast to the feelings so prevalent in our 
own country relative ‘to' the: remains of the deceased. 
HALLER. 
ignorance, these feel- 
ings appear to the persons who cherish them sacred and = 
refed, though they senselessly oppose an obstinate 
barrier to the dissemination of the most important 
Haller next went to Basle, where he applied himself 
to the study of geometry under the celebrated Ber= 
noulli, and for a short time he filled, with great credit, 
the anatomical chair during a tem: ‘illness of Pros 
fessor Mieg. He returned to Berne in 1729, to prac~’ 
tise as a physician. Those who were previously estas 
blished there, detracted from his professional character, 
by ‘representing him as blindly attached to delusive 
theories, and had he the pegs to: him from 
obtaining the appointment of physician to an hospital, 
for which, in 34, he was a candidate. Two 
after, however, he succeeded in that object, and dis- 
charged the duties of the office with great credit. 
The celebrity of his talents for anatomy induced the 
republic of Berne to form an anatomical theatre, and 
appoint him their professor. About this,time he culti~ 
vated various elegant studies. He pronounced an ora« 
tion before a public literary. assembly, in which he as- 
serted the general superiority of the ancients to the mo« 
derns. He published a collection of German odes and 
poetical epistles, which ‘evinced the refined taste and 
delicate sensibility of the author, were admired in every. 
part of Europe, and soon translated into various lan« 
guages. The piece which gave greatest satisfaction was. 
one devoted to a descriptive account of the Alps, and 
the manners of their inhabitants. Possessing, among 
his other accomplishments, an extensive acquaintance- 
with biography and civil history, he received the charge 
of the public library at Berne. He drew up a catalogue 
raisonnée of the books, and arranged, in luminous. 
order, a collection of more than 5000 medals belong« 
ing ee iba 
“In 1736, -he was invited, by the regency of Haz 
nover, to fill the ;chair of anatomy, surgery, and bo 
tany, in the University of Gottingen, now for the first. 
time instituted. He embraced this opportunity of de« 
voting himself with more decided advantages to the’. 
improvement of science. He celebrated, in an ode, 
the inauguration of that university, and gave a compe- 
tent share of ‘praise to George II. King of Britain, for- 
the zeal with which he promoted science in every part 
of his dominions, ‘ These included the American colonies, 
which were then illuminated by the genius of Franklin. 
At his entrance on his official duties at Gottingen, Haller. 
was subjected to domestic discouragements of a trying 
nature. The carriage in which his wife and three chi 
dren travelled from their native country to this new 
situation, was overset on the road, and his wife re« 
ceived an injury, of ‘which she died soon after ara 
riving at the end of her journey. He applied him< 
self; however, with great zeal, to his academical du- 
ties, encouraged by the increasing esteem of his col<. . 
leagues, and by the assistance of his countryman Hu<. _ 
ber, He published, in 1739, his Leclures on Boers 
haave’s Institutions, on which he had annually comment« 
ed to his pupils. In this work, we find some germs of * 
those more extended undertakings in physiology, which 
pee the foundation for so great a sve of his future 
ame, 
Having, among his other pursuits, cultivated that_of 
botany, he published, in 1742, his Enumeratio Stirpium: 
Helveticarum, in two folio volumes, which were embel- 
lished with numerous elegant engravings. The ar« 
rangement of this work rather presents us with a- 
Like all’ the prejudices of savage i 
