nothing would stand in the way of his visit to the 
country of his birth. 
After the birth of his first child, Wislizenus left 
his wife with relatives in New England, and went 
to California, via Panama, with a view to possible 
settlement there. He was much impressed with the 
great future of the country, prophesying that it 
would be famous for fruit long after gold was ex- 
hausted; but whatever temptations he might have felt 
as a bachelor, he saw that the country in its then 
condition was not a desirable home for a civilized 
family. He accordingly returned east, and brought 
his family to St. Louis in the spring of 1852. His 
days of wandering were over. For the rest of his 
life he never went more than a hundred miles from 
St. Louis, and that only for a few days at any one 
time. 
But his interest in matters of natural science did 
not end with his travels. He was one of the charter 
members of the Academy of Science of St. Louis; 
regular in attendance as long as health permitted; 
and a frequent contributor of articles published in 
its “Transactions.” 
He was also a member of the Missouri Historical 
Society, being one of the signers of the call for the 
meeting at which the Society was organized in 1866. 
He became much interested in the subject of atmos- 
pheric electricity. With a sensitive instrument he 
tested the air six times each day for the kind and 
amount of its electricity, supplementing this work by 
